Clarkstown Offers Counseling For Students, Staff After Familicide

NEW CITY, NY — In the wake of the weekend killing of two local children by their father, Clarkstown school officials are offering resources for staff and students.

At 12:15 a.m. Saturday, the Clarkstown Police Department received a call from the Bronxville Police Department asking for them to check the home of BPD Sgt. Watson Morgan, who had not shown up for his 11:30 p.m. shift.

CPD officers entered the home at 10 Clydesdale Court and found Morgan, his wife, and their two children dead from apparent gunshot wounds to the head. Morgan’s gunshot wound is alleged to be self-inflicted.

Ornela Morgan, 43, was a teacher in the Bronx. Twelve-year-old Gabriel was in seventh grade at Felix Festa Middle School. Liam, 10, was a fifth-grader at Laurel Plains Elementary School.

"This is the deepest sense of grief that any school community can possibly have. This will be a long healing process for us," Superintendent Marc Baiocco said Tuesday.

As students and staff returned from winter recess, the district’s Student Support Teams — school counselors, social workers and psychologists — were available to talk, listen and comfort, officials said on Facebook. "With heavy hearts, we encourage you to reach out to your child’s principal for additional support."

CCSD shared a few resources:

• How to talk with your child about loss? Visit the National Association of School Psychologists website
• Contact the Rockland County Behavioral Health Response Team for 24/7, mobile behavioral health services: (845) 517-0400
• Call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 for 24/7, confidential support to people in suicidal crisis or mental health-related distress

"CCSD is a strong community and we’ll continue to support one another during this very challenging time," officials said on Facebook.

Fathers are disproportionately involved in and responsible for violence directed toward children and family members, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Different types of violence are connected and often share root causes. Intimate partner violence is linked to other forms of violence through shared risk and protective factors.

The presence of a gun in domestic violence situations increases the risk of homicide for women by 500 percent, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Useful resource:

National Domestic Violence Hotline: Call 1-800-799-7233 and TTY 1-800-787-3224.

SEE ALSO:

• NY AG’s Office Opens Probe Into Rockland County Familicide
• Father Kills Wife, 2 Sons, Self In New City