Astoria Shooting Leaves 4 Dead, Including 5-Year-Old Boy: NYPD

ASTORIA, QUEENS -- Four people, including a 5-year-old boy, were shot and killed in a suspected murder suicide inside an Astoria apartment on Monday night, police said.

The child, a man and two women were found dead with gunshot wounds inside a first-floor apartment at 30th Drive and 23rd Street after gunfire broke out just before 9 p.m. inside the building, said NYPD Chief of Detectives Dermot F. Shea.

"I just want to reinforce that this is a very active and very preliminary statement," Shea told reporters outside the apartment building late Monday night.

"As you can see over my shoulder, crime scene is still, in fact, working the scene."

Officers were originally called to the eight-unit building to respond to a heavy bleeder, Shea said.

The circumstances surrounding the shooting are still under investigation, but Shea said police were looking into the possibility that it was a murder suicide.

By late Monday night, police believed they had identified at least one person killed in the gunfire but said they would not yet release any names.

"That's where we are right now," Shea said.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Lead photo courtesy of @kylenbutton/Twitter