YONKER, NY – A retired NYPD detective fatally shot his wife before killing himself Wednesday, Yonkers police said.
According to police, officers were dispatched to a home on Chittenden Avenue just after 7 a.m. for a report of an unconscious person. When they arrived, police said they found a woman suffering from multiple gunshot wounds and a man apparently dead from a gunshot wound to the head. First responders performed life-saving measures on the woman, but she died at the scene, police said.
They have been identified as Sean O’Neill, 54, and Arlene O’Neill, 47.
The couple’s three school-aged sons were home at the time of the shooting. They are cared for by family members.
Loved ones, neighbors in disbelief after apparent murder-suicide in Yonkers
Five hours after the early morning gunfire and a few minutes after a priest arrived on the scene, the bodies were removed from their home.
Sources tell CBS News New York that their marriage was under strain. The couple fought Tuesday night and the tension continued into Wednesday.
Sean O’Neill retired from the NYPD in 2023 and had worked on the Joint Terrorism Task Force.
Arlene O’Neill taught fifth grade at Anne Hutchinson Elementary in Eastchester. The district said staff and students are “shocked and saddened” and will provide counseling.
“It’s just, words can’t describe what happened. It’s just devastating for the kids, devastating for the family,” neighbor Ed Pagano said.
Someone who has known the couple for years told CBS News New York’s Tony Aiello that Arlene was a wonderful person and a devoted mother and educator, and everyone who knows the family is in disbelief.
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