Neighbors Say Elderly Couple Let a Mysterious Man Inside. Then They Were Found Dead in Burning Home, with One Tied Up By Sean Neumann

Police in New York City are searching for a man they say killed an elderly couple inside their home before lighting the building on fire Monday afternoon.

A spokesperson for the NYPD confirmed to PEOPLE that “a 77-year-old male and a 78-year-old female” were found dead on Sept. 8 by responding firefighters, who fought the blaze inside the two-story house in Queens.

Police later announced at a press conference that they were searching for 42-year-old Jamel McGriff as the primary suspect after authorities said he was caught on security camera at a local pawn shop trying to sell two cellphones.

“The person responsible for this crime should be considered armed and dangerous,” NYPD Police Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch said at a press conference Tuesday, Sept. 9.

Tisch identified the victims as Maureen Olton, 78, and Frank Thomas Olton, 77.

Investigators believe McGriff “entered the location and set the residence on fire,” according to the NYPD press release. At the news conference, Tisch said the suspect is believed to have stabbed the Oltons multiple times before setting the house on fire.

“FDNY responded to the location and extinguished the fire,” a spokesperson said, adding that EMS also responded and “pronounced both individuals deceased at the scene.”

Investigators described McGriff as “a male, with a dark complexion, approximately 30 to 40 years of age, medium build, and was last seen wearing a black hat, a black jacket, blue jeans, and black sneakers,” per the NYPD spokesperson.

The NYPD provided media outlets with a video of the alleged suspect, showing him walking along the sidewalk outside the home and carrying a bag.

ABC News reported that neighbors told police that an unknown man had been knocking on doors Monday asking to be let inside so he could charge his cellphone. 

The outlet reported that surveillance video from the area showed the man, believed to be McGriff, knocking on the couple’s backdoor around 10:15 a.m. local time on Monday morning before being let inside. Another piece of surveillance video shows the man exiting the home shortly after 3 p.m. local time, according to ABC.

The outlet reported that worried neighbors called the couple’s son, who is a paramedic with the New York City Fire Department. The couple’s son reportedly rushed to his parents’ home and was the one who first discovered them dead inside.

Local WABC reported that both victims were allegedly set on fire and that the husband was found tied to a pole in the basement, though officials have yet to determine an exact cause of death.