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At least eight police officers were injured in a Queens, New York, explosion Thursday after responding to calls that a knife-wielding man was threatening people inside a home.
New York Police Department (NYPD) officers responded to calls about a domestic dispute involving a knife-wielding man at a residence in the Ozone Park neighborhood, NYPD Assistant Chief Christopher McIntosh said Thursday morning.
NYPD Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch later released shocking police body camera footage showing officers approaching the residence’s door before being blown back by a fiery explosion.
One officer is heard asking, “what’s his name?” before a fiery explosion blows open the doorway. Officers scramble to check on one another amid the debris.
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“The guy just lit the house on fire,” one officer says. “We have an explosion.”
Officers are seen attempting to remove several crying children from the chaotic scene and check on other occupants.
“Here is video of the heroic actions that members of the NYPD took this morning to rescue children and adults from a burning home in Queens,” Tisch wrote on X Thursday afternoon. “They were hurt. They had just been thrown to the ground by an explosion. And in that moment, with no clear sense of what else they might be walking into, they made the decision to keep moving forward. Their focus stayed exactly where it needed to be: on the people inside, on getting those children out, and on making sure that situation didn’t claim innocent lives.”
At an earlier news conference, McIntosh told reporters that at 2:42 a.m., officers responded to a 911 call for a domestic dispute with a knife.
“The call was placed by a family member of the victim, who stated that her male relative arrived at their residence intoxicated and armed with a knife, and there was a smell of gas in the residence,” McIntosh said.
Anroop Parasaram, 50, was armed with a knife, forced his way into the basement apartment of a three-family home and “began menacing and threatening the remaining victim with a knife,” McIntosh said.
“Our officers were at the front door of the residence attempting to enter when suddenly a massive fiery explosion erupted at 2:57 a.m. The officers were violently… multiple officers were thrown off their feet with some being launched into gates at the front of the residence,” McIntosh said.
Officers then went into the engulfed building to rescue remaining residents.
Eight officers were treated for minor burns and one of them received stitches for head lacerations.
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“I want to be clear, we got very lucky today, this could have turned out really differently,” McIntosh stated.
Officers have still not located Parasaram, who is still “unaccounted for,” McIntosh revealed at the time.
Parasaram, who had three expired protection orders against him by family members, came to the home carrying two garbage bags containing gas cans and an unknown substance, McIntosh said.
Sixteen people living in the three-family home or in nearby homes have been displaced by the blaze, Fire Department of New York’s (FDNY) John Esposito told the news conference.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani also weighed in on the situation.
“I’ve been briefed on this horrific situation involving a dispute that led to an explosion and fire in Queens. It left multiple people injured and displaced, including seven members of the NYPD and one firefighter — all of whom sustained minor injuries and are in stable condition,” Mamdani wrote in a Thursday morning post on X.
“I’m grateful to our NYPD officers, FDNY firefighters, and EMS members who rushed to the scene, rescuing residents and worked under extremely difficult conditions to keep New Yorkers safe. I’m wishing all those injured a swift recovery, and I thank our officers and firefighters for their extraordinary bravery in the face of a complex and dangerous situation. We’re continuing to support displaced residents and, as FDNY and NYPD personnel conduct debris removal and searches at this active scene, and working to account for anyone who may remain missing while the investigation continues,” Mamdani concluded.
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Fox News Digital contacted the NYPD for more information but no further update was immediately available.
