The suspected shooter in a murder-suicide Sunday at a home on Long Island, New York, appears to have feared being left out of a family will when he decided to kill three siblings and a niece, police said Monday.
According to Nassau County police, 59-year-old mechanic Joseph DeLucia Jr. realized he had to move from the home he had lived in all his life and legally purchased a shotgun before committing the crime.
“Joseph Jr. was excluded from the will and was expected to be cast away with nowhere to go. He certainly has had some mental issues in the past,” Detective Lt. Steve Fitzpatrick said Monday.
DeLucia’s mother had died three days earlier, and her children and niece had traveled from out of state to Long Island to sort out her will.
Five killed in New York murder-suicide before meeting with real estate agent to sell recently deceased mother’s home: Report
This July 2012 image shows 76 Wyoming Court in Syosset, New York. (Google)
“They came to see the real estate agent when this happened. … They brought Starbucks. They were all gathered in the study. [Joseph DeLucia Jr.] “They stayed behind,” Fitzpatrick said of the four victims.
Police said DeLucia feared she would be removed from the will and forced to leave the home she had lived in all her life.
“He was panicking,” Fitzpatrick said, noting that DeLucia was receiving treatment but had to be relocated.
Nassau County Police responded just before noon Sunday to a report of shots being fired and a man lying on the front lawn of a home on Wyoming Court in Syosset.
Grandmother kills college track coach in murder-suicide in wealthy New York neighborhood: police
Nassau County Police responded just before noon Sunday to a report of shots fired and a man lying on the front lawn of a home on Wyoming Court in Syosset, New York. (FOX 5 New York)
Police found the four victims, Joan Kearns of Tampa, Florida; Frank DeLucia of Durham, North Carolina; and Tina Hammond and her daughter, Victoria Hammond, of East Patchogue, New York, in a den at the rear of the home. DeLucia had shot himself in the front yard with a gunshot wound to the chest. Police said DeLucia had shot each of the four victims multiple times.
“41 years. It was probably one of the most horrifying things I’ve ever seen.”
After DeLucia’s neighbor reported that the gunman had previously said there was no need to call the police if he heard gunshots, police are urging residents to report anything suspicious about their neighbors.
Cousins arrested after bizarre incident believed to involve pipe bomb and machete outside New York City police station
“As a community, we hear things. We know things. We see things. And if we don’t say anything, sometimes the results are: [what] “We found out about the shooting yesterday. The community was talking about the struggles of this shooter who decided he didn’t want to leave his home after his mother died. Previously, the community was talking about not calling the police if you hear gunshots. It’s too late now,” Ryder said.
Police found the bodies of the four victims in a den at the back of the home and Joseph DeLucia dead in the front yard from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest. Police say DeLucia shot each of the four victims multiple times. (FOX 5 New York)
He added that the information was “disturbing” to law enforcement officials and that authorities could have responded to the home sooner.
Police noted that although DeLucia’s shotgun was purchased legally, it may have been illegal for him to possess it if his problematic behavior had been reported to authorities.
“I’m not saying this incident could have been avoided, but it could have been avoided,” Fitzpatrick said.
Police said there was only one call to DeLucia’s home in 2022 to check on her safety, but DeLucia’s behavior at the time led police to take no further action.
Local real estate agent Mary Macaluso told a local newspaper: Newsday is She was to meet with relatives at the address to discuss the sale of the house following the death of the woman who owned it and was the head of the family.
Click here to get the FOX News app
“My kids are all here for the funeral and they asked me to come and see the house,” she told the paper, with one of her siblings requesting a visitation while other relatives were in town from Florida for the funeral, according to the report.
Fox News’ Michael Lewis and Lorraine Taylor contributed to this report.
