Cops 'Knocked Off Their Feet' By Huge Explosion After Responding to Domestic Dispute, Suspect Is 'Unaccounted For'

NEED TO KNOW

• Seven NYPD officers and a sergeant were "violently" blown off their feet by a house explosion in Queens on Thursday morning

• The officers were entering the home to check on a domestic dispute call received minutes earlier

• Police said the suspect believed to have caused the dispute and the ensuing explosion, 50-year-old Anroop Parasram, remains unaccounted for as investigators search the rubble

Seven New York City Police officers and a sergeant were “violently” thrown from their feet early Thursday morning by an explosion in Queens that happened right at the moment they were entering a home to find the suspect of a domestic dispute call.

NYPD officials said the Thursday morning blast led to a massive fire at the residence and spread to a neighbor’s house, leaving 16 people displaced. The suspect, 50-year-old Anroop Parasram, remains unaccounted for as investigators scour the burnt remains of the home for clues, according to local news outlets News 12 , PIX 11 and NBC New York .

“We got very lucky today; this could have turned out very differently,” Christopher McIntosh, the Assistant Chief at the NYPD's Patrol Borough Queens South, told reporters at a news conference later Thursday morning, according to Pix 11. “The dangerous explosion was so powerful, it knocked them off their feet.”

The NYPD official said its officers got back on their feet and “ran into the burning home” to check for other residents still stuck inside.

“They stood up and ran into the burning home,” McIntosh said. “They run to danger; they do not run away from it.”

PIX 11 reported that NYPD responded to a domestic disturbance call at the home at 2:42 a.m. local time after a 911 caller said their family member, Parasram, arrived drunk at the house and forced his way inside.

Authorities said security footage from the home shows Parasram carrying a knife and two garbage bags full of an unknown substance outside the home. The footage allegedly shows Parasram push in an air conditioner to gain access to the home, according to PIX 11, citing the NYPD.

NBC New York reported that the 911 caller said Parasram threatened his family members inside, but his daughter and granddaughter were able to escape the home. Once outside, according to NBC, the daughter gave responding officers a key to allow them entry into the house — just moments before the NYPD officials approached the home as it exploded.

The outlet reported that NYPD officials said Parasram had three expired orders of protection filed against him by his own family members.

Read the original article on People