Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live At Daybreak

Police Investigate Man's Stabbing of Sons

Aired July 02, 2001 - 08:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Police are trying to understand why a man would stab his three young sons, killing two of them. It happened Saturday night in Syracuse, and this morning the surviving child is in critical condition at a local hospital.

CNN's Jason Carroll is in Syracuse, live with the latest on that story -- Jason.

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, I am standing in front of the Tran home, on Kirkpatrick Street, here in Syracuse, New York. If you take a look in front of the house, you can see what has been happening here. People have been leaving flowers and cards and letters for the Tran family.

I can tell you that what happened here started over the weekend, late Saturday night. Neighbors heard screams coming from the house and called 911. Apparently, the children's mother had come home from a wedding. The door was locked. She looked through the window and saw one of her children lying on the floor. The children's father, Cuong Tran, told her through the door that he was killing her children.

Police forced their way in and found Tran had stabbed his three children. Danny, six, and Randy, five, were dead. Andy, seven -- he is the oldest -- was barely alive. Police say they were forced into shooting Tran after he came after them with a knife.

Now, Carol, just a few moments ago, I spoke with one of their neighbors, William Brooks (ph), who told me what he saw on Saturday night. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: Tell me what you saw when you came by here yesterday?

WILLIAM BROOKS (ph): A lady screaming and yelling, a dead baby in the man's arms inside the window, and then I saw a man with a knife to his stomach.

CARROLL: So you actually came up here, walked up, and looked through window?

BROOKS (ph): I looked through the window down the driveway over there and saw a dead baby, blood all over the place. It was like a horror movie.

CARROLL: Any idea at all -- I know that you were after it had happened, you said that there were a number of people out front who were screaming and sort of...

BROOKS (ph): I have no idea. Supposedly she went to a wedding. I don't know. I don't know. I was coming back from getting dinner from the supermarket, saw a lady screaming and yelling to call 911, and dropped my bike to see what I could do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: Again, that was William Brooks (ph). He told me he is never going to forget what he saw here at this home.

Early this morning, I spoke to a nursing supervisor, and she told me that the little boy, Andy, is still in critical condition.

Police are still in the process of interviewing the family, trying to get a motive for what happened here. The couple had been living together for eight years. They were not married, but apparently they were having some problems -- Carol.

LIN: Jason, do you know where the mother is now?

CARROLL: At this point the last that we've been told, Carol, is that the mother was in a hospital. She was being treated for shock over the weekend. At this point, we cannot confirm if she has been released. Her name though is not even being released, but as you can imagine, she's extremely, extremely distraught over what happened to her family.

LIN: Yes, obviously.

All right, thank you very much, Jason Carroll, standing by a very gruesome scene in that neighborhood.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com