The Bronx Port Authority cop who killed his sister before taking his own life in a grisly murder-suicide had been repeatedly accused of not doing enough to care for their 86-year-old mother, who barely survived the carnage, the Daily News had learned.
Before the bloody scene unfolded inside Maria Garcia’s Riverdale cop-op apartment at 8 a.m. Thursday, Port Authority Police Officer Mario Garcia had gotten into several arguments with his family over his mom’s ongoing care, police said.
His elderly mother had recently moved in with Maria and his family said he wasn’t doing enough and wanted him to pull his weight, a police source with knowledge of the case said.
On Thursday morning, clad in his pajamas, Garcia, 55, shot both his sister and mother in back bedrooms inside the first-floor apartment before turning the gun on himself and taking his own life.
Cops responding to the “Winston Churchill” apartment building on Johnson Ave. near Kappock St. found Officer Garcia dead in the hallway. Maria Garcia, was found dead in her bed.
Their mother was found shot in the face and was rushed to Harlem Hospital, where she was expected to survive, police said.
Both Officer Garcia and his sister were financially responsible for both their mother and father, who multiple sources said suffers from dementia and is currently in a senior healthcare facility.
Police had the sad duty on Thursday of informing the infirmed patriarch about the murder-suicide.
Mario Garcia had been with the Port Authority for 23 years and was currently assigned to LaGuardia Airport, officials said. His employment history showed no discipline problems, department officials said.
The gun he used, which was found next to his body, was not his service pistol, officials said.
Neighbors said Maria worked for New York State and was planning to retire. One of her bucket list items after her retirement was to join the peace corps.
Her elderly mother recently moved in with Maria after her father was put in the long-term facility, neighbors confirmed.
“She loved dancing. She loved to travel. She was a very loving person. She was always wanting to be social and getting people together,” longtime neighbor Jane Burbank said. “She was wonderful. I don’t understand what happened. It’s such a shock. I can’t believe it.”
Mario Garcia wasn’t a tenant of the apartment where the shooting took place, but was visiting his sister and mother when the shooting erupted, neighbors said.
A black Kawasaki Vulcan motorcycle that was found parked outside the building belonged to Officer Garcia, tenants said.
The night before the shooting, one tenant saw all three of them doing their wash in the laundry room in the basement.
Neighbors were alerted to the bloodshed after multiple emergency vehicles showed up outside the building that morning, they said.
“I just woke up and I heard the sound of sirens,” building resident Daniel Gallent, 15, told the Daily News. “I ran out on my balcony and checked my Citizen app. I would never thought it could happen here.”
“I’ve lived (in this building) all my life,” he said. “I would never think that the building I grew up in, that there would be a shooting and I would feel unsafe here. I’m going to school for my midterms and I was supposed to study this morning, only to see this. It’s completely a shock.”
When reached, the Port Authority referred all calls to the NYPD, which was still investigating the incident.
With Kerry Burke
