A former NYPD detective fatally shot his wife and then died by suicide Wednesday morning in the couple’s Hudson Valley home, authorities said.
Sean O’Neill, 54, killed Arlene O’Neill, 47, at their home in Tuckahoe and then turned the gun on himself, the Rockland/Westchester Journal News reported. The O’Neills were found dead around 7 a.m. in the town about 15 miles north of Central Park.
Cops said all three of the couple’s children were home at the time but not physically harmed, according to 1010 WINS. They were transferred into the custody of other family members.
Arlene O’Neill was a fifth-grade teacher at Anne Hutchinson Elementary School in Eastchester. All three of her children also attended schools in the district.
The Eastchester Union Free School District “is shocked and saddened by this development, and has mobilized the district crisis team, as well as resources from neighboring districts” to “provide comfort to students, faculty and other staff members as they process this news,” district superintendent Ronald Valenti said in a statement.
Investigators said the O’Neills began arguing on Tuesday night and the argument escalated Wednesday morning until Sean grabbed his gun, WABC reported.
Arlene was found dead from multiple gunshot wounds to her body, while Sean suffered a single gunshot wound to the head, the Journal News reported.
Sean joined the NYPD in 1993 and retired last year as a detective, according to 1010 WINS.
