Woman, 4 young children killed in NYC stabbing rampage

A woman and her four young children, including a 1-year-old boy, were killed during a late night stabbing rampage at their Brooklyn home, police said Sunday.

When emergency responders arrived at the apartment on 57th St., near Ninth Ave., in Sunset Park, the toddler and two girls, ages 7 and 9, were already dead from stab wounds.

Paramedics rushed the woman and a 5-year-old boy to local hospitals but the two died, police added.

The victims were identified as 37-year-old Qiao Zhen Li, 9-year-old Linda Zhuo, 7-year-old Amy Zhuo, 5-year-old Kevin Zhuo, and 1-year-old William Zhuo.

"Officers observed a total of five persons, unconscious and unresponsive, all with stab wounds about the upper portions of their bodies," according to a statement released by police early on Sunday.

"A person of interest is being held," a police spokesman later told NBC News. "Nobody else is a suspect at this time."

The New York Times said the suspect was a 25-year-old cousin of the children’s father. The man had been living with the family for about a week.

More from GlobalPost: Man arrested after checking a loaded rifle at JFK airport

A neighbor of the family told the New York Daily News that the parent who was not home at the time of the attack was inconsolable.

"The father was freaking out," May Chan told the Daily News. "He just came home from work and saw the police and they told him. He was hysterical."

Chan said it was "heartbreaking" to learn of the deaths.

"I always see (the kids) running around here," Chan said. "They run around by my garage playing. They run up and down screaming."