Cop ‘follows cheating woman by phone before killing lover and himself’

New York police officer Sean Armstead, 36, is said to have tracked wife Alexandra Vanderheyden, 35, to a hotel where she was with Edward Wilkins, 20, before killing the lover and shooting himself

A police officer followed his wife and her young lover to a hotel before shooting his rival dead after a chase and turning the gun on himself, sources say.

The love triangle’s horrific end came when cop Sean Armstead, 36, tracked down his partner Alexandra Vanderheyden, 35, at a La Quinta Inn in Wallkill, New York, where she was dating 20-year-old Edward Wilkins.

The two lovers ran from the hotel and escaped in a car around 10.30pm last Sunday with Armstead chasing them.

Armstead rammed his car into hers near an intersection near a Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant, sources say.

Mr. Wilkins then got out of his car and ran, but Armstead tripped him with 16 rounds fired and he died from injuries to his back and head, the New York Post sources said.

Armstead, who was appointed to the NYPD in 2011, is said to have reloaded his gun and shot himself, leaving his wife unharmed in the carnage.

“It happened outside,” said a Buffalo Wild Wings manager New York Post. “The night manager told me she kept everyone inside and locked the doors. We closed early last night. I don’t even think they got in here.”

The police are now investigating the suspected murder-suicide.

A guest staying at a hotel near the shooting recalled the shocking incident.

She said: “I heard eight shots. The policeman shot him several times until he was dead. Then the cop, shooting himself, landed on the body. They were both in the same place, one on top of the other in a pool of blood.

“The woman screamed and ran in and out of the Buffalo Wild Wings. She was crying hysterically, it looked like she was going to pass out.

“People were still there at 4:30 a.m. mopping up the blood.”

Ms Vanderheyden’s brother Joseph said it was a tragedy for the families involved.

“This was a very devastating tragedy for the victims and the families involved,” he said Daily Mail.

“Our family in particular was directly affected by the traumatic events.”