Masked thugs shoot mother dead in front of her husband, son after she tried to defend them amid robbery in NYC condo building

A pair of masked robbers shot a mother dead in front of her husband and son after she tried to defend them amid a robbery in their New York City condo building Monday night, the New York Post reported.

Two suspects in black ski masks allegedly followed the victim’s 61-year-old husband into the building — Two Bridges at 44 Market St. in lower Manhattan — and then into the elevator where they attempted to rob him, the Post said.

'It’s all surreal,' Liu’s son told the Post Tuesday. 'I feel only sadness right now.'

Lin Rong Yan, 32, buzzed his dad into the building and was waiting for him in the eighth-floor hallway when the elevator opened and revealed the crime in progress, the paper said, citing sources.

Yan tried to intervene, and one of the suspects pistol-whipped him, sources told the Post.

His mother — 57-year-old home health aide Ying Zhu Liu — heard what was happening and came out with a stick to confront the robbers, but she was shot in the face in front of her husband and son, the paper said.

The robbers grabbed a cellphone from Liu’s husband and fled in an unknown direction, the Post said, adding that the pair were still at large as of early Tuesday.

Police told the paper the gunman was wearing a half-red, half-black hooded jacket, black pants with a white stripe down the leg, and white sneakers; the second suspect was wearing a black hooded coat, black pants, and black-and-white sneakers.

Liu’s son told the Post he didn't recognize either of the suspects.

The paper said the hallway was still smeared with blood 12 hours after the fatal shooting.

"I heard a fight, gunshot, and then just called 911. I didn't open the door. I was scared for my life, thought the best thing I could do was call police," neighbor John Lee told WCBS-TV.

“It’s all surreal,” Liu’s son told the Post Tuesday. “I feel only sadness right now.”

A family friend added to the paper that "no such crimes happened in this building" over the past decade.

Those with information about the case can confidentially call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782), WCBS said, adding that tipsters can submit them online or through a direct message on Twitter @NYPDTips.

- YouTubeyoutu.be

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