Cop kills wife, self at St. Albans home

A 33-year-old NYPD officer with a reported history of domestic violence shot and killed his wife as she ran from their St. Albans home on June 5 before killing himself.

Police are calling the incident a murder-suicide.

A neighbor, who asked that his name not be used, said his daughter saw Sherlon Smikle, an eight-year veteran of the department, chase Lana Morris, 46, a school safety officer, out of their house at 183-60 Camden Ave. and shoot her repeatedly with a shotgun.

“Then he went back into the house and she heard one more shot,” he said.

Police in the 103rd Precinct said the shootings took place at about 7:45 p.m.

The couple lived with their 8-year-old daughter, who was not home at the time.

Other neighbors on Thursday afternoon either said they did not know the family or declined to comment.

A man showing up at the residence briefly identified himself only as a workman.

“But now there is nothing to work on,” he said.

A representative from the union that represents school safety officers was at the house briefly on Thursday, but said he could not comment on the matter.

Representatives from the city Administration of Children’s Services could not be reached to determine if the couple’s child is in city custody or with relatives.

Morris was a school safety officer in the 105th Precinct, and was in uniform when she was shot.

Police said she was taken to Queens Hospital Center, where she was pronounced dead on arrival.

Smikle, 33, was found inside the house, where he was pronounced dead.

The Daily News is reporting that Smikle worked in Brooklyn, and that he was forced to surrender his badge, along with his service weapon and a second 9 mm pistol, to the department following a domestic violence incident for which he received a “do not harass” order from the courts.

Any such order also would have required him to surrender all other firearms in his possession.

The appearance of the house the day following the killings was a study in contrasts.

The street — only a few blocks from the Long Island Rail Road and the Liberty Avenue industrial corridor — looks like a photograph from a real estate catalogue.

Like most of the homes on Camden Avenue, 183-60 boasts intricate landscaping and a meticulously manicured lawn.

Standing out conspicuously on Thursday were remnants of crime scene tape, and glass from a shattered screen door strewn on the front stoop.

Fluorescent green NYPD stickers on the screen and front doors sealed the home, which was still being treated as a crime scene last Friday.

“This is a wonderful street to live on,” the neighbor said. “Why would you shoot somebody with a gun? When will it end?”