In the early hours of the Brownsville case, detectives were looking for the gun under Mr. Briggs’s body, having determined that there was no gun near the other family members. But they were cautious at first about moving Mr. Briggs’s body, and police officials declined to answer questions later about where detectives ultimately found the gun.

“There’s reasons we can’t say,” Deputy Chief Michael Kemper, the commanding officer of Brooklyn North detectives, told a reporter.

The shell casings appeared to come from .40-caliber bullets, the police said.

Relatives and friends of the family, gathering to grieve at another home in Brooklyn, declined to speak about what happened, and much was still unclear about what led up to the shootings — and even when precisely they happened.

Some neighbors said the family argued, particularly Mr. Briggs and his stepfather, Mr. Drain, but they said nothing ever raised an alarm. Some neighbors also said Mr. Briggs was known to be troubled. He particularly liked to play the first-person shooter video game “Call of Duty” on his PlayStation, one person said.

Still, other neighbors said the family was friendly and welcoming.

“This is a shocking thing to me,” said James Walker, who lived on the opposite end of the floor from the family. “They were friendly people — nothing bad about them.”

The elder Mr. Drain, who went by “Big Daddy,” held cookouts across from the complex on the outskirts of Nehemiah Park. He used to sit by an old blue van of his, grilling and holding forth with neighbors.



“He would be there all summer long feeding everbody’s kids,” said Kathy Lindo, who lives down the hall from the family.