A mother has died and her two young children are being treated for critical injuries after a horrifying attack in Brooklyn, according to police officials who called the attack "brutal."
The incident occurred just before 2 p.m. on 52nd Street between Fifth and Sixth avenues in Sunset Park, according to preliminary details from the investigation. Three people, a 43-year-old mother and her 3-year-old and 5-year-old kids, were said to be attacked inside their second-floor apartment.
Law enforcement sources said the mother and the attacker had gotten into an argument before the attacker bludgeoned her and her children with a hammer.
All three victims were rushed via ambulance to Lutheran Hospital after they were critically injured in the attack, law enforcement sources tell News 4. The mother did not survive her injuries.
Get Tri-state area news delivered to your inbox.> Sign up for NBC New York's News Headlines newsletter.
Police said it was too early to determine why the attacker also went after her children, a 3-year-old girl and 5-year-old boy.
A suspect was taken into custody outside of the building, NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell said. The hammer apparently used in the attack was also recovered.
News
Police are still trying to piece together what happened, but they say the mother and her children rented a bedroom in the same apartment where the attacker also lived in a room with his child.
Sources said there was a dispute of some sort; local officials say the fight may have been over rent.
There is also a growing call for people to stop sharing cell phone video of the children after the attack.
State Senator Iwen Chu said the video shows "younger kids, and it’s blood all over on their face. They need to stop sharing those image.”
An investigation is ongoing.
