A police officer allegedly followed his wife and her younger, dog-walker lover to a hotel and him and then turned the gun on himself.
New York police Officer Sean Armstead, 35, called in sick to his midnight shift in the Bronx and trailed his wife, Alexandra Vanderheyden, 35, and Edward Wilkins, 20, to an upstate hotel, according to the .
The illicit lovers drove separately to the La Quinta Inn in Wallkill around 3.45pm on Sunday, police sources told the newspaper.
Vanderheyden ran a dog-walking business and had Wilkins as one of her employees. She left her car down the road from the hotel and had Wilkins pick her up, because she suspected Armstead might know about her affair and could try to find her, the sources said.
The couple were at the hotel for a few hours before having dinner at a Golden Corral restaurant, according to the sources. They then went to a nearby Dave & Busters until around 10.45pm, at which point they headed back to the hotel.
Wilkins dropped Vanderheyden off at her car, assuming that Armstead was to report to work soon. They then drove separately toward the hotel.
However, Armstead was following them and caught up to Wilkins as they drove on NY-211. Armstead crashed his car into Wilkins’ vehicle, the sources said. When both cars stopped in the westbound lanes of the state highway, Wilkins ran out of his vehicle.
Armstead then reportedly shot Wilkins in the back of his head as he reached a Buffalo Wild Wings parking lot. The veteran officer then shot himself, sources said.
Vanderheyden had been driving after the men and found her husband and lover both lying on the ground surrounded by blood. Both men were pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Wallkill Police Department on Monday.
She later told investigators she believes that Armstead tracked her through her phone, sources said.
Vanderheyden’s family called the incident ‘a devastating tragedy for the victims and families involved’.
‘Our family has been directly impacted by the traumatic events that occurred late on May 8,’ stated Vanderheyden’s brother, Joe Meyer.
‘We’re awaiting the outcome of the law enforcement investigation to determine exactly what happened.’
Armstead, who was married to Vanderheyden for nine years, joined the New York Police Department in 2011 and patrolled the Bronx.
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