A woman was shot dead in front of her son and husband on the threshold of her apartment: she tried to save her family from robbers

A 9-year-old woman was shot in the face in front of her family on Sept. 57 by burglars as she tried to protect her husband and son from the attackers in their lower Manhattan apartment building, according to NYPost.

Ying Zhu Liu was found dead in the hallway of the eighth floor of the Two Bridges building at 44 Market St.

"It's all surreal," said the victim's grieving son, Lin Rong Yan, 32. "Right now I just feel sad."

How the tragic events unfolded

Two suspects wearing black ski masks allegedly followed the victim's 61-year-old husband into the building and into an elevator, where they attempted to rob him.

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Yan let his father into the building and was waiting for him in the hallway on the eighth floor when the elevator opened. There was a struggle going on inside.

The son tried to intervene, but one of the suspects hit him with a gun.

Liu heard the noise and went out with a stick to confront the criminals. She was shot dead in front of her husband and son, who were unharmed.

The robbers managed to take Liu's husband's mobile phone, after which they disappeared in an unknown direction.

As of the morning of September 10 Criminals were still at large.

"There haven't been any crimes like this in this building in 10-plus years," a family friend said. "But this is America. They immigrated here 10-plus years ago."

"We know the father of the family from work. He doesn't have many relatives here. He called me this morning. I thought it was just a regular robbery. I didn't expect it to be that serious," he concluded.

Police said the shooter was wearing a red and black hooded jacket, black pants with a white stripe and white sneakers.

The second suspect was wearing a black hooded coat, black pants and black and white sneakers.

Liu's son did not recognize any of the attackers.

The corridor on the eighth floor where the shooting took place was still covered in blood 12 hours after the incident.

A pillow, completely soaked in blood, was leaning against one of the walls, and a bloody handprint was visible on the wall.

A pool of blood had collected on the floor near the door to the stairs.
The 12-story building where Liu was killed has 16 apartments with balconies and views of the Manhattan Bridge. The building also houses a preschool and commercial space on the ground floor.