International

At least four people were fatally stabbed, including two children ages 11 and 12, early Sunday at a New York City home when a suspect went on what authorities allege was a "rampage," allegedly setting fire to the couch in the residence and slashing two police officers with a kitchen knife before being shot to death.

The stabbing frenzy erupted early Sunday in the Far Rockaway neighborhood of the borough of Queens, according to the New York Police Department. Two police officers, both veterans of the force, responded to a disturbance and were attacked in the driveway of the home by the alleged perpetrator, whom they spotted carrying luggage from the residence, authorities said.

One officer was slashed in the face and the other sustained a cut to his head before one of them opened fire on the suspect, killing him, according to a preliminary investigation by the NYPD.

"This shows that police officers never know what they're responding to, what's waiting for them on that scene," Patrick Henry, president of the New York City Police Benevolent Association, said during a news conference Sunday. "This scene was chaos, multiple victims, a house on fire, and a madman on a rampage, on a mission."