NEW YORK — 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.”