NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- A decomposing body was found surrounded by canisters with biohazard labels at a Brooklyn apartment Wednesday afternoon—and federal agents have joined the investigation.
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NYPD officers responding to a wellness check at the second-floor apartment in Cypress Hills shortly before 1 p.m. discovered the body of a 75-year-old man upright in a chair, police said Thursday.
The man’s body was in a state of decomposition, and he’s believed to have been dead for at least a week.
As police searched the apartment at 101st Avenue and Drew Street, they found canisters with hazmat and biohazard labels, as well as “schematics of unknown infrastructure.”
The containers prompted a massive response, with local and federal law enforcement at the scene overnight and into Thursday.
People in hazmat suits were seen going in and out of the apartment Wednesday night, and police guarded a pile of red hazmat bags on the sidewalk Thursday morning as the FBI cordoned off the whole block and more trucks arrived at the scene.
Sources told the New York Post that the suspicious materials appeared to include “weapons of mass destruction diagrams,” but police are investigating the validity of the items found in the home.
An evacuation was reportedly deemed unnecessary after the Department of Environmental Protection determined hazardous materials weren't present in the air.
The dead man has not been identified. The medical examiner is working to determine what killed him.
Neighbors called him "John Knish" because he owned a knish shop on Liberty Avenue in the 1960s and 70s. They said he was a "good person," and they found it hard to believe he would've been up to anything nefarious.
One resident said he was a veteran and cancer survivor who had a lot of health issues, including trouble breathing.
Workers at a nearby store where he played the lottery said they hadn't seen him since July 26, when he left not feeling well.
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