Massive explosion at NYC home sends police officers flying
[May 01, 2026]
NEW YORK (AP) — A massive, fiery explosion at a house in Queens
sent several New York City police officers flying through the air early
Thursday morning as they were responding to a call of a man inside armed
with a knife and the smell of gas.
Eight officers were treated for minor injuries — including burns and at
least one head laceration — after the blast, and all of the people who
were inside the building have been accounted for, though several were
taken to a hospital, police said. |
This image made from New York Police Department body camera video shows
an officer after an explosion at a house while responding to a call of
an armed man Thursday, April 30, 2026, in the Queens borough of New
York. (New York Police Department via AP) |
|
Police body camera video of the explosion shows officers about
to enter a small home in Queens before 3 a.m., and just as one
starts to open the door, a huge blast erupts, blowing out
windows and knocking officers back across a yard and into a
gate. The officers can then been seen scrambling to recover
through debris as smoke billows out of the house, checking on
each other to see if anyone had been hurt.
“You guys good?” one of the officers can be heard saying.
The video then cuts to about a minute later and shows an officer
helping two young children out of the home as a handful of other
people come staggering out of the house.
“I want to be clear: We got very lucky today, alright,"
Assistant Chief Christopher McIntosh of the New York Police
Department said at a news briefing hours later. "This could have
turned out really differently.”
“Thankfully, today, luck was on their side,” he said of the
officers.
McIntosh said the man who prompted the initial call arrived at
the home intoxicated and carrying a knife and two garbage bags
filled with canisters containing an “unknown substance." He
pushed in an air conditioning unit to get into a basement
apartment where his wife, daughter and two grandchildren live.
They were eventually able to flee from the building and officers
arrived shortly after that. The man is unaccounted for, McIntosh
said.
The home collapsed after the explosion, authorities said.
Neighboring homes were also damaged.
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