Guilderland

Four people — believed to be two children and two adults — were slain in a quadruple homicide inside a small, pale-green bungalow at 1846 Western Ave. along a busy commercial stretch of the suburban town.

Guilderland police confirmed Wednesday afternoon that there were four homicides. Neighbors said a Chinese family with three elementary-age children lived at the home, but police have not released the ages, gender or names of the victims.

Meanwhile, workers at a nearby Chinese restaurant mourned the victims as a family of Chinese descent whom they knew as regular customers.

"Terrible. The whole family killed," said C.C. Chen, an employee at King's Wok, a Chinese takeout restaurant in the 20 Mall.

She said the owner of the restaurant, Kam Lo, who was also listed in legal documents as the owner of 1846 Western Ave., about one mile west of Crossgates Mall, was related to the victims and that Lo and other relatives were being interviewed at the Guilderland police station late Wednesday afternoon.

"We just saw them yesterday," Chen said. "They always come to the restaurant."

Investigators declined to discuss the details of the killings or speculate on a motive.

"It's very early in the investigation," said Guilderland Capt. Curtis Cox.

Officials late Wednesday said there would be a news conference at 10 a.m. Thursday at the town hall.

Dozens of law enforcement officials, some shuttling between meeting rooms inside Westmere Fire Department, interviewed family and friends of the victims, a process Cox said late Wednesday would continue into Thursday morning and beyond.

Shortly before 10 p.m. Wednesday, Cox said they had still not identified the victims.

He declined to discuss the manner of death, but said police were being assisted in their investigation by interpreters who spoke different Chinese dialects.

"It's elongated our whole initial process," Cox said of the language barrier.

A man standing outside the firehouse waiting to be interviewed said the victims were a husband and wife and two children.

He declined to give his name.

Earlier, a female translator told a State Police investigator that the man was the last person to see the deceased.

Several family members, who told detectives they came from downstate and New Jersey, sat at a table outside waiting to talk to detectives while a Guilderland police officer guarded a woman inside the fire district office for several hours.

Curious neighbors gathered outside their homes. One, who asked not to be identified, said police described the killings as executions.

Investigators from Guilderland and State Police gathered on the lawn of the home Wednesday afternoon waiting for a search warrant to enter the house. A large town police command center mobile home was parked with several police cars at the crime scene, which was surrounded by yellow police tape.

One lane of eastbound Western Avenue was shut down for several blocks around the crime scene, causing a long traffic backup.

Albany County District Attorney David Soares was at the scene and conferred with Guilderland Police Chief Carol Lawlor.

Farnsworth Middle School and Guilderland and Westmere elementary schools were locked down for about 30 minutes "out of an abundance of caution," said Marie Wiles, superintendent of the Guilderland school district.

There was no indication that students were in danger or that a suspect in the killing was in the area.Most of the students, faculty and staff had already been dismissed when the 4 p.m. lockdown was put in place, Wiles said. But there were youngsters in an after-school program run by the YMCA at both elementary schools and athletic events under way at Farnsworth, Wiles said.

Wiles has been in touch with police but has not been informed of the names of the victims and is uncertain if any Guilderland school students were involved. "We will wait to hear from the police," she said. If the victims were Guilderland students, crisis teams will be in place in the schools Thursday for students who seek grief counseling.

Neighbor Rosalyn Kowalski said she arrived home from a visit to the hairdresser around 2:15 p.m. and found her driveway blocked by police cruisers. She said a child was outside the home rocking back and forth and pounding the ground with his fist.

Kowalski said someone came and wrapped the child in a yellow blanket and took him away. Kowalski said a girl around 7 years old and two boys between ages 10 and 12 lived there. She said the family moved in about two years ago.

"I want to know about the three little kids because they were always playing in our back yard with our dogs," Kowalski said.

Police also cordoned off a house next to the homicide scene in which several Chinese students lived.

Police interviewed neighbors and asked if they saw anyone they didn't recognize at either house on Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning. Kowalski, who has lived on the street since 1969, said she neither saw nor heard anything unusual.

State Police Lt. Don Williams said investigators were bringing in a Cantonese interpreter to interview people.

Guilderland police received a call asking for medical help at the house around 2 p.m., Cox said. From the caller's description, Cox said police knew it was a bad scene.

Neighbor Melissa McGrath said people came and went from the home at all hours. McGrath thought it might be extended family that lived at the home.

Kowalski and her husband, Thomas, said the family was quiet and "minded their own business." The adults did not speak English well, but the children, who sometimes played in the Kowalski's back yard, did speak English and attended local schools.

"They were a very quiet family and kept to themselves," said Sandra Crounse, who has lived across the street from the homicide scene for 26 years.

She said the family of two adults, a teenage boy and elementary school-age girl had lived in the house for several years.

The killings took place along a cluster of several similar postwar bungalows with attached garages just west of Johnston Road in the Westmere neighborhood of the suburban town.

Jordan Carleo-Evangelist contributed. pgrondahl@timesunion.com • 518-454-5623 • @PaulGrondahl