BREAKING: Man sets himself on fire inside Queens home, sparks explosion injuring 12, including 8 NYPD officers

A man allegedly set himself on fire during a domestic dispute in a Queens home that then sparked a massive explosion, which injured at least 12 people, including eight NYPD police officers. 

Police responded to a domestic dispute in South Ozone Park around 2:42 am on Thursday. However, as officers approached the door, an explosion went off that was “so powerful it knocked them off their feet," Assistant Chief of Queens South, Christopher M. McIntosh, said to reporters. 

Suspect Anrup Parasram, 50, who is not accounted for, was allegedly intoxicated as well as armed with a knife when he entered the home where his wife, daughter, and two grandchildren live, police said. Family members int the home who called 911 said that he threatened them with the knife and reported the smell of gasoline.  

Footage reviewed by police showed him entering the home with two garbage bags with canisters filled with an unknown substance, which may have been gasoline. According to sources that spoke to the New York Post, he poured an accelerant on the floor and then set himself on fire. 

The family members in the home fled and then gave the officers a key to get inside. It was at that point that "suddenly a massive fiery explosion erupted" as the police went to the door, McIntosh told reporters. After getting knocked back by the blast, the police officers "rushed into danger" to help anyone else inside the multi-unit home. 

Although the suspect has not been found, FDNY Chief John M. Esposito said, “We will start debris removal to see if we can account for anybody that might be reported missing." There were three multiple protection orders leveled against Parasram in 2023. The last order expired in 2024.