NEW YORK, NY — A 50-year-old man died in a massive gas explosion that injured eight NYPD officers early Thursday morning when police responded to a domestic violence call at a Queens home where the suspect had barricaded himself with accelerants.
Anoop Parasram was found dead beneath the rubble hours after the blast destroyed the three-story home on 130th Street in South Ozone Park, according to NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch. The explosion occurred at 2:57 a.m., just 15 minutes after the initial 911 call and as officers were attempting to unlock the front door with a key provided by Parasram’s estranged wife. Seven officers and one sergeant sustained injuries ranging from minor burns to head lacerations requiring stitches, but all have been released from Jamaica Hospital. The incident has displaced 25 residents from the building and neighboring homes damaged in the five-alarm fire that followed.
The crisis began at 2:42 a.m. when police received a 911 call from a family member reporting that Parasram had arrived at the residence intoxicated and armed with a knife, with a strong smell of gas permeating the basement apartment. “The call was placed by a family member of the victim, who stated that her male relative arrived at their residence intoxicated and armed with a knife, and there was a smell of gas in the residence,” NYPD Assistant Chief Christopher McIntosh said during a Thursday morning briefing. Security footage obtained by police shows Parasram approaching the building while carrying two large garbage bags filled with yellow canisters containing an unknown substance, officials said. He forced entry into the basement apartment by pushing an air conditioner out of a window, where his wife, daughter and two grandchildren lived.
Dramatic body camera footage released by the NYPD captured the moment officers approached the front door before being violently thrown backward by the fiery explosion. “The guy just lit the house on fire,” one officer can be heard saying in the aftermath. “We have an explosion.” Despite being knocked off their feet and suffering injuries, the officers immediately rushed into the burning building to rescue residents, including several crying children visible in the footage. “Multiple officers were thrown off their feet with some being launched into gates at the front of the residence,” McIntosh said. “Even after that several officers rushed into the danger and went into the building and located one person and helped them move to safety.” The explosion was so powerful it shattered windows throughout the neighborhood and completely destroyed half of the three-family home.
Parasram had a documented history of domestic violence and three expired orders of protection filed against him by family members, with the most recent expiring on November 29, 2024, according to police records. Officers had been called to the residence “multiple times” over the years to respond to domestic disputes between Parasram and his wife, McIntosh said. Once inside the basement apartment Thursday morning, Parasram “began menacing and threatening the remaining victim with a knife” after his daughter and two grandchildren managed to flee to safety, police said. His wife was able to escape and met officers outside, providing them with the key to the apartment. Police believe Parasram deliberately set fire to the location using an unknown liquid accelerant, though the exact cause of the explosion remains under investigation by multiple agencies.
Nearly 300 firefighters, emergency medical technicians and paramedics responded to battle the five-alarm blaze that spread to neighboring homes. Fire Department of New York Chief John Esposito said the building was “heavily involved in fire” when crews arrived, with flames quickly spreading to adjacent properties. Sixteen people have been displaced from the original building and nearby damaged homes, with the Red Cross providing temporary housing assistance for 18 adults and seven children. “We got very lucky today,” McIntosh said. “This could have turned out really differently.” Neighbor Leikram Singh, 67, whose home was severely damaged, described being awakened by his wife screaming about the fire. “My wife started screaming ‘Fire!'” Singh recalled. “I rushed and get my son, everybody, out.” Another neighbor, Marie Jean, 82, took in Parasram’s wife and children during the emergency response.
The investigation continues as authorities examine Parasram’s vehicle found near the scene and work to determine the exact accelerant used in the explosion. Commissioner Tisch praised the officers’ response, calling their actions “heroic” despite being injured in the blast. “They were hurt. They had just been thrown to the ground by an explosion. And in that moment, with no clear sense of what else they might be walking into, they made the decision to keep moving forward,” Tisch said. Mayor Zohran Mamdani expressed gratitude to first responders, saying they displayed “extraordinary bravery” under extremely dangerous conditions. The scene remained active throughout Thursday as debris removal and search operations continued.
