THREE SHOT, TWO KILLED IN APPARENT MURDER-SUICIDE INSIDE BRONX APARTMENT, POLICE SAY. (PHOTO)

Three shot, two killed in apparent murder-suicide inside Bronx apartment, police say

 An off-duty Port Authority police officer fatally shot his sister, critically wounded his elderly mother, and then took his own life in an apparent murder-suicide inside a Bronx apartment Thursday morning. Emergency crews were called just before 8 a.m. to the Winston Churchill Building on Johnson Avenue near Kappock Street in the Spuyten Duyvil section after reports of gunfire in a lower-level unit. Authorities said the building’s doorman contacted 911 after discovering the scene. Inside the apartment, officers found a 55-year-old man and a 59-year-old woman dead from gunshot wounds, with a firearm recovered nearby. Investigators believe the man was the shooter and that the woman killed was his sister.

An 86-year-old woman, believed to be the mother of both the shooter and the victim, was also found at the scene suffering from gunshot wounds. She was treated by EMS and rushed to Harlem Hospital in critical condition, though she is expected to survive. All three individuals are believed to have lived in the building, with neighbors indicating the apartment belonged to the woman who was killed and that her mother had recently moved in. The shooter was identified as Mario Garcia, a 23-year veteran of the Port Authority Police Department who had served with the aircraft emergency response team at LaGuardia Airport and previously worked at the George Washington Bridge. Authorities said there was no known history of domestic violence involving the family, though investigators continue to examine the circumstances surrounding the shooting. Police emphasized there is no ongoing threat to the public and that no other suspects are being sought.