Neighbor of NY cop who allegedly shot wife, sons in murder-suicide describes victims as ‘perfect American family’
A neighbor of the Bronxville cop who allegedly shot dead his wife and their two sons before turning the gun on himself in their Rockland County home described them as the “textbook, perfect American family” — as the suspected murder-suicide sent shock waves in the quiet, suburban neighborhood Sunday.
“I never in a million years would expect [he] would do something like this,” the neighbor said of Watson Morgan, the 49-year-old sergeant with the Bronxville Police Department and former NYPD officer believed to have murdered his wife, Ornela Morgan, 43, and their boys, ages 10 and 12.
“The kids were always out here playing outside, and their mom was just the sweetest person you ever met,” said the woman, who shares a cul-de-sac with the Morgans in New City, an affluent hamlet in the town of Clarkstown, about 18 miles north of New York City.
“We’re in shock. Everyone in this community is shocked,” added the neighbor, who asked not to be named.
“I would describe them as the textbook, perfect American family.”
But that perfect family met a gruesome end on Saturday, which is when cops found their four corpses in the Clydesdale Court home about 20 minutes after midnight.
Officers went to the home to do a welfare check after Morgan never punched in Friday night as he was supposed to, Clarkstown Police Det. Norm Peters told The Post.
Police later said they found a handgun at the scene.
Investigators suspect Morgan shot the family to death before “killing himself with a self-inflicted gunshot wound,” the department said in a statement.
Peters also said the couple had no history of domestic complaints, and the motive for the shooting is still under investigation.
Morgan was with the NYPD for seven years before he left in 2007 to work for the Bronxville force, according to Bronxville Police Chief Christopher Satriale.
His wife worked as a technology teacher at the One World Middle School in the Bronx, sources said.
“As we try to come to terms in a state of shock and sadness, we will continue to share with you what we can based on what the Clarkstown Police Department releases, as this is an ongoing investigation,” Satriale said in a statement.
Department members’ hearts “go out to Sergeant Morgan’s extended family,” he said.
If you are struggling with suicidal thoughts, you can dial the 24/7 National Suicide Prevention hotline at 988 or go to SuicidePreventionLifeline.org.
