Victims Identified In Hempstead Triple Homicide; Killer Arrested: Police

UPDATE: Police have identified the three women killed in Hempstead, and say they have arrested the man they believe is responsible.

Bobby Vanderhall, 34, was arrested and charged for the murders of his mother, Lynn Reichenbach-Vanderhall, his sister, Melissa Vanderhall and Janel Simpson, a friend who was visiting the home at the time of the attack.

According to NBC, police say that Vanderhall took a hammer from the garage of his mother's home and broke in through the basement. He used the hammer, police say, to beat his 58-year-old mother to death. Vanderhall then found his sister and her friend, both of whom were 29, and beat them as well. A fourth victim was attacked, but managed to escape. She has not been identified, but according to NBC, police say she is in a hospital and in stable condition.

Police say they found Vanderhall about two miles from the home, asleep in his car. He was arrested there.

ORIGINAL STORY: HEMPSTEAD, NY — Three people were found dead at a home in Hempstead early Saturday and police are investigating it as a homicide.

ABC-7 New York reported that police are investigating the murders of three women. Four assault victims were found at a home on Perry Street and three of them were pronounced dead at the scene by medics, police said. A fourth victim survived.

Citing the parents of a victim, ABC reported that the scene unfolded at around 3 a.m.

At a press briefing, Det. Lt. Richard LeBrun, commanding officer of Nassau County police’s public information office, expressed his condolences to the victims, Newsday reported. LeBrun said police are searching for a person of interest and the incident was not random but rather a "targeted event," as reported by Newsday.

The women sustained blunt force trauma to their bodies.

The investigation is ongoing.

Patch will update this breaking news story.