(LibertySociety.com) – A tragic incident unfolded in a New York City condo building on Monday night when a mother was shot and killed in front of her family while trying to defend them during a robbery. According to the New York Post, two masked robbers followed her 61-year-old husband into the Two Bridges building at 44 Market St. in lower Manhattan, entering the elevator with him before attempting to rob him.
The couple’s son, Lin Rong Yan, 32, was waiting for his father on the eighth-floor hallway when the elevator doors opened, revealing the robbery in progress. Yan tried to intervene, but one of the robbers struck him with a pistol, sources told the Post.
Hearing the commotion, 57-year-old Ying Zhu Liu, a home health aide, came out of her apartment armed with a stick in an attempt to defend her family. In response, one of the robbers shot her in the face, killing her in front of her husband and son.
The suspects, both wearing black ski masks, fled the scene after stealing a cellphone from Liu’s husband. The gunman was reportedly wearing a half-red, half-black hooded jacket, black pants with a white stripe, and white sneakers. The second suspect wore a black hooded coat, black pants, and black-and-white sneakers. As of early Tuesday, the suspects remained at large.
The hallway was still marked with blood 12 hours after the fatal shooting. “It’s all surreal,” Yan told the Post about his mother’s death. He expressed deep sorrow, saying, “I feel only sadness right now.”
A neighbor, John Lee, shared his reaction to the violence, telling WCBS-TV, “I heard a fight, gunshot, and then just called 911. I didn’t open the door. I was scared for my life.” A family friend also commented that no such crimes had occurred in the building in the past decade.
The NYPD is asking anyone with information to confidentially call the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS, or submit tips online or through Twitter @NYPDTips.
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