Queens home explosion kills suspected intruder after domestic dispute, gas odor reported

Police were at the front door with a key from a fleeing victim when a Queens home exploded, knocking officers off their feet and sending some into the front gates just before the fire tore through the building and spread next door.

The 911 call came in around 2:42 a.m. on April 30, 2026, from 107-55 130th Street in South Richmond Hill, near South Ozone Park. Police said the call reported a domestic dispute, a knife and a gas odor. Officers were told a male relative had arrived intoxicated. By the time they reached the home, police said they were trying to get inside to confront a dangerous situation that had already been reported multiple times before.

Investigators identified the man as 50-year-old Anroop Parasram, though one NYPD account spelled the name Anoop Parasram. Police said he allegedly forced his way into the basement apartment through a window or by shoving out an air conditioner, then threatened people inside with a knife. Surveillance video showed him carrying two garbage bags filled with an unknown substance, and police said three expired orders of protection had been issued against him.

The explosion hit as officers approached with the key. NYPD video and body-camera footage captured the blast and the chaos that followed, including officers rushing back inside the burning home to pull people out. At least three children were rescued from the house, and one person was removed to safety from inside after officers entered the structure. Police and media reports said Parasram’s daughter, wife, two grandchildren and other residents escaped before the explosion.

Seven officers suffered minor burns and one had a head laceration. Multiple officers were hospitalized overnight, and several residents were taken to local hospitals as well. The FDNY said nearly 300 firefighters and EMS personnel responded to the five-alarm fire. Officials said the two-story home was fully engulfed when crews arrived, flames spread to the neighboring house and multiple homes on the block were damaged. More than a dozen residents were displaced, with one report putting the number at 16, and the American Red Cross was assisting them.

Police later recovered a body believed to be Parasram’s from the debris. Investigators believe an unknown liquid accelerant may have been used. NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch and Assistant Chief Christopher McIntosh praised the officers’ actions, saying the outcome could have been far worse for the people inside and the responders who walked into the blast zone.