By Mark Hallum
A suspected love triangle took a turn for the worst Friday morning, as two people were found dead in an East Elmhurst apartment in an incident that also put an off-duty Yonkers police officer in the hospital after a dispute broke out at 19-54 77th St., according to the NYPD.
Police said a 31-year-old woman called 911 at 6:52 a.m. — just one minute after a neighbor reported hearing gunshots. The woman, who lived on the second floor of the apartment building, told 911 operators that “I’ve been shot by my boyfriend,” and asked to send the police, according to Carlos Nieves of DCPI.
That call then disconnected, but the line remained open and loud noises were heard in the background, according to Nieves.
Officers from the 114th Precinct responded to the call and upon arriving to the apartment, heard 10 shots being fired, according to police. Officers created a perimeter and requested additional assistance and emergency services.
Upon entering the apartment, officers discovered who they believed to be the 911 caller deceased, along with a 47-year-old man, who was also dead.
A third individual, a 43-year-old Yonkers police officer believed to be the victim’s boyfriend, was found alive with a gunshot wound to the shoulder and multiple stab wounds to the back, likely from a screwdriver, a police source told TimesLedger Newspapers, noting that the investigation is still in its preliminary stages.
The off-duty officer was undergoing surgery Friday morning at Elmhurst General Hospital and is expected to survive, according to Nieves.
The 47-year-old man — believed to be the victim’s ex-boyfriend — was found with a gunshot wound to the head with a firearm located in close proximity to the body, Nieves said.
The gunshot wound is possibly self-inflicted, according to Nieves, who added that the serial number on the gun matches up to a weapon owned by the off-duty officer.
“What we do believe is that we have three individuals — two are romantically involved and one possibly an ex-boyfriend and one a current boyfriend,” Nieves said, adding that at least two of the three involved in the incident had previously served in the military, though he could not confirm that had anything to do with Friday’s events.
“I cannot tell at this point in time if that had anything to do with this,” he said. “They may or may not have known each other from the military.”
The three individuals had been involved a prior incident earlier in the week. Nieves said there had been several calls to 911 Monday that included an incident with a car being keyed.
The investigation was ongoing.
Reach reporter Mark Hallum by e-mail at mhall
