A husband and wife and their two sons, ages 10 and 12, were found dead in a suburban New York home Saturday in what authorities described as a murder-suicide by a police sergeant. 

Police officials said Watson Morgan, a sergeant with the Bronxville Police Department, fatally shot his wife, Ornela Morgan, 43, and their sons before taking his own life. 

The four bodies were discovered by police just after midnight on Friday at the family’s home in New City, a suburb of New York City, after Morgan failed to show up for his evening shift at the Bronxville Police Department. 

“At this phase in the investigation it is believed that Watson killed his wife and two children, prior to killing himself with a self-inflicted gunshot wound,” the Clarkstown Police Department said. 

All four had gunshot wounds, police said. A handgun was recovered at the scene. 

Watson, 49, began his career with the New York Police Department in 2000 before joining the force in Bronxville, a village in Westchester County, seven years later, according to a department biography. He was promoted to sergeant in 2016. 

In a statement, Bronxville Police Chief Christopher Satriale said the killings left the department with “profoundly broken hearts at the senseless loss of innocent lives.” 

“Our hearts go out to Sergeant Morgan’s extended family,” he said. “Our thoughts and prayers are also with his Bronxville Police Department family”, the AP reported. 

According to abc7ny. com, Pictures from happier times now appear outside the home as part of a growing memorial, including one that shows Ornela Morgan and her two sons under the message: "forever in our hearts." 

Nowhere to be found is a photo of Watson Morgan, a Sergeant with the Bronxville Police Department, who police say shot and killed his family before turning the gun on himself. 

Clarkstown Police made the grim discovery after the Bronxville Police Department requested a welfare check when Watson Morgan, who was just two months shy of retirement, failed to show up for his shift Friday night. 

"As you would imagine, this is the deepest sense of grieving that a school community can possibly have," said Clarkstown Schools Superintendent Marc Baiocco. 

Tuesday would have been the first day back at school for Liam and Gabriel Morgan. 

Liam, 10, was a fifth grader at Laurel Plains Elementary and his 12-year-old brother Gabriel was in the seventh grade at Felix Festa Middle School. 

Grief counselors will be at both locations for the next several days, but the district opened its doors Sunday for members of the community and beyond. 

A Facebook page launched in tribute of the Morgan family has been compiling photographs and messages offering condolences. 

Counselors are also in place at the Bronx school where Ornela Watson worked as a teacher. 

"This was something that truly impacted a larger community than what we originally anticipated," added Baiocco.