Murder-suicide investigation involved Philadelphia Police Officer

Philadelphia Cop Apparently Kills Wife, Himself Inside Juniata Park Home, Police Say

By CBS3 Staff
July 8, 2019

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Philadelphia police are investigating an apparent murder-suicide involving an 11-year veteran of the department and his wife in the Juniata Park section of the city. 

The couple was found inside the home on the 4600 block of Weymouth Street around 9:30 a.m. on Monday. They have been identified as 39-year-old Jose Rodriguez and 36-year-old Evelyse Rodriguez.

According to Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross, the couple’s 17-year-old daughter called police to check on her parents’ well-being. Ross says the daughter didn’t hear from her father or mother for some time and tried to reach out to them around 2:30 a.m.
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NCIS investigating murder-suicide in Okinawa involving sailor

Japan: Sailor kills woman, self in Okinawa

The Associated Press
By: Yuri Kageyama
April 13, 2019

TOKYO — A U.S. serviceman fatally stabbed a Japanese woman and then killed himself in Okinawa on Saturday, Japan’s Foreign Ministry said, amid growing resentment about the presence of American troops in the southwestern Japanese region.

The apartment where a U.S. servicemen and a Japanese woman were found dead, in Chatan town on Okinawa on Saturday. The sailor fatally stabbed a Japanese woman and then killed himself , according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry, amid growing resentment about the presence of American troops in Japan's southwestern region. (Kyodo News via AP)

U.S. Forces Japan said the Naval Criminal Investigative Service was working with local police to look into the deaths of a U.S. Navy sailor assigned to a Marine unit and an Okinawa resident.

“This is an absolute tragedy and we are fully committed to supporting the investigation,” it said in a statement, adding that more information would be released later.
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Murder-suicide investigation at Wurtsmith Air Force Base

Police investigate suspected murder-suicide in northern Michigan

MLIVE

By Cole Waterman
February 8, 2019

OSCODA TWP, MI – Police in northern Michigan are investigating what they believe is an attempted murder-suicide incident on a former U.S. Air Force base.

At 11:27 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 7, Oscoda Township police responded to a gun complaint — later upgraded to a shots-fired report — in the residential area of the former Wurtsmith Air Force Base. While officers were en route, the initial caller advised dispatchers that two people had been shot inside a house.

Officers entered the house and found 37-year-old Rickie L. Cheatum Jr. dead on the floor from a gunshot wound to his head. Cheatum’s 31-year-old male roommate was unconscious on the floor, suffering from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, police said.

Witnesses told police the two men had a verbal altercation. During it, the younger man grabbed two handguns and shot Cheatum before turning one of the guns on himself, police reported.

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San Diego-based Marine and woman dead, suspected murder-suicide

Marine, woman dead after apparent murder-suicide
Marine Corps Times
By: J.D. Simkins
1 day ago

A San Diego-based Marine and an unidentified woman were killed in an apparent murder-suicide Wednesday night, the Marine Corps has confirmed.

Sgt. Massamba Diatta, 29, and the 23-year-old woman were discovered by police inside their Houston hotel room after authorities were tipped off by an individual assigned to Diatta’s unit who notified them of “disturbing information” being posted by the Marine on social media, Lt. Larry Crowson told the Houston Chronicle.

The caller told authorities the Marine, who was assigned to recruiting school at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, could be suicidal and was likely accompanied by a woman and a child.
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Navy Dentist Murder-Suicide Investigation

Navy dentist, thought to have been killed by ex, known for compassion and charity work
Chicago Tribune 
Ted Gregory, Karen Berkowitz and Vikki Ortiz Healy 
January 5, 2018

Linette Lowe remembers that first impressions of Claire VanLandingham could be misleading.

Claire VanLandingham, 27, died of multiple gunshot wounds in Lake Forest on Jan. 3, 2018. (University of Louisville)

“She may have come off as a little bit shy or quiet,” said Lowe, a staff member at the church VanLandingham attended while earning her degree in dentistry at University of Louisville from 2013 through 2017. “But her compassion for people overwhelmed that in pretty short order. She was able to reach out.”

Lowe and others made heartbreaking recollections of the example VanLandingham set Friday, two days after authorities said she died in Lake Forest from multiple gunshots wounds. Police confirmed Friday that they are investigating her death as a suspected murder-suicide at the hands of a former boyfriend.

“That’s the best working theory we have right now. But we are still interviewing people and trying to put all the facts together,” Lake Forest Deputy Chief Robert Copeland said.

“So we cannot say conclusively that is what happened,” the deputy chief added, but said authorities “have no reason to believe there is another gunman somewhere.”

Police say VanLandingham, 27, was found with gunshot wounds outside a Dunkin’ Donuts on Western Avenue in Lake Forest early Wednesday and was pronounced dead at Lake Forest Hospital. A man later identified as Ryan Zike, of Louisville, Ky., was found dead at the scene with a gunshot wound to the head, officials said.
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Fort Collins Murder Suicide Investigation Involves Florida Airman

Florida man killed in Fort Collins shooting was Air Force veteran
Coloradoan
John Borja
October 21, 21017

The 26-year-old Florida man who died in a Fort Collins shooting Thursday was a kind-hearted and brave individual, according to his family.

Investigators say U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Michael A. Zamora shot and killed Tristian Kemp and 22-year old Savannah McNealy outside a condominium complex early Thursday morning. Zamora also shot and injured another woman before killing himself, police said.

The woman who survived the shooting was taken to Medical Center of the Rockies in Loveland and is expected to survive her injuries, police said.

Kemp spent part of his youth in Guam, and he was a 2009 graduate of George Washington High School.
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Murder-Suicide Claims Life of 7 Year Old and Veteran Dad

Father, son dead in Longview murder-suicide
The boy was a 1st grader at Northlake Elementary School
KOIN 6 News Staff
Published: March 30, 2017

A statement from the Lower Columbia Community Action Program said Pittore-Montiel had overcome many obstacles in his life. Staff said he grew up in foster care and was homeless after being discharged from the military

LONGVIEW, Wash. (KOIN) — A man and his son were found dead in what investigators determined was a murder-suicide in Longview Thursday morning.

David Pittore-Montiel and his son were found dead in an apparent murder-suicide in Longview on March 30, 2017. (LinkedIn photo) David Michael Pittore-Montiel was 34 and his son, Michael, was 7 years old. Neighbors told KOIN Pittore-Montiel was a single father. The boy’s mother lives in California.

Longview police received a call about a suicidal man around 5:30 a.m. Thursday and responded to the apartment in the 900 block of 8th Avenue. Officers heard shots when they got to the door and found the man and child dead inside.
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Tech. Sgt. Steven Bellino PTSD and "Other Factors"

Air Force: PTSD, Other Factors Led Airman to Kill Commander
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS SAN ANTONIO
Jan 16, 2017

U.S. Air Force investigators have determined that post-traumatic stress disorder and the unraveling of a distinguished military career led an airman to fatally shoot his commander last year at a San Antonio base before killing himself, according to Air Force documents.

The April shooting at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland prompted a lockdown and officials to abruptly end a nearby military training parade with thousands of spectators.

Investigators determined Tech. Sgt. Steven Bellino confronted Lt. Col. William Schroeder before the two struggled and Schroeder was shot multiple times. Both men were veterans of U.S. Special Operations Command.

Air Force documents given to the San Antonio Express-News ( http://bit.ly/2jC5obt ) by Bellino's family show he participated in an elite pararescue program with Schroeder but did not complete it.
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A Long Career in Military’s Elite Spirals Into a Killing and a Suicide
The New York Times
By DAVE PHILIPPS
APRIL 15, 2016

Military and law enforcement personnel after a shooting last week at Joint Base San Antonio in which, the authorities say, a sergeant fatally shot his commander, then killed himself. Credit Darren Abate/Reuters

Investigators believe Bellino, 41, resented the outcome following a remarkable military career that included repeated tours in Afghanistan and Iraq and time as an Army Ranger and Green Beret. He also had served as an FBI agent and was a CIA contractor before enlisting in the Air Force and attempting to join the elite unit.


After two decades in the Army Special Forces, several deployments overseas and a stint in the F.B.I., Steven Bellino switched to the Air Force to become an elite pararescue lifesaver trained to jump from planes and save aircrews behind enemy lines. The motto of the rescuers is, “That others may live.”

But last week, just a few months into training, Sergeant Bellino, facing court-martial for being absent without leave, walked into his squadron’s headquarters at Joint Base San Antonio, in Texas, with two pistols and gunned down his commander, Lt. Col. William Schroeder, according to a Department of Defense spokeswoman, who said the sergeant then killed himself.
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Camp Lejeune Marine Reservist Murder-Suicide Investigation

Brother: Man who killed girlfriend, self 'a good person'
Gaston Gazette
By Adam Lawson
October 26, 2016

As a reservist, Walker was promoted to sergeant with Company F, 4th Tank Battalion, 4th Marine Division at Camp Lejeune on Oct. 1. Marine Corps Maj. Andrew Aranda, spokesman for the Marine Corps Reserve, listed his job as tank crewman.

The brother of a Gastonia man who detectives say strangled his estranged girlfriend to death and then killed himself Monday wants to know why things spiraled out of control.

Tyrone Walker knew his baby brother, Justin Hakeem Walker, and Rebecca Jones had "been going through a little something." But he didn't foresee it ending in two deaths. Justin Walker had just proposed to her on Christmas, and the two once planned on getting married at a church in April, according to an online wedding registry.

According to the registry, the two met in September 2011 and had been "together ever since."

Tyrone Walker wants to know what was going through his brother's head at the time, what he was thinking, what could make him end two lives. Police can't answer those questions, Tyrone Walker said.

"I really don't got nothing to ask the police," he said. "There's nothing they can solve. Nobody can know what was going on with both of them. Not nobody knows the motive that really happened."
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Nasir Siddique Motives Unclear in Murder-Suicide Investigation

Man fatally shoots wife, son and himself in Maryland
Washington Post
By Dan Morse and Justin Wm. Moyer
September 29, 2016

Nasir Siddique, the father, was an employee at the Department of Public Works for the U.S. Army’s Aberdeen Proving Ground. He had served in active duty in the Army and reached the rank of lieutenant colonel.

By Wednesday night, friends of University of Maryland college student Farhad Siddique had grown deeply concerned. He’d missed a class that afternoon and couldn’t be reached. They reported him missing.

At 10:30 p.m. as the friends walked through a parking lot just outside the College Park campus, they spotted a red Jeep that belonged to Siddique’s father. The passenger-seat front window was shattered.

A police car, arriving to check on the young man, pulled into the same lot.

What soon became clear was a terrible sequence of events.

Siddique’s father, 57-year-old Nasir Siddique, had shot his son and then killed himself inside the Jeep, miles away from the family’s home in Harford County. Some time earlier, at the home north of Baltimore in Bel Air, Nasir Siddique had fatally shot his wife, 48-year-old Zarqa Siddique, who worked for the Harford school system helping students with severe disabilities.
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Murder-Suicide Investigation: Police Officer Survived Iraq, Battled Cancer

Waterbury Officer's Death Ruled Suicide; Second Victim Identified
Hartford Courant
Bill Leukhardt
July 22, 2016

Yocher served six years in the U.S. Army, including one tour in Iraq. He then transferred to the Air Force and served a second tour in Iraq. He received honorable discharges from both branches, according to a Dream Foundation release about the September 2015 event.

WATERBURY — A Waterbury police officer who was found dead Wednesday morning outside a slain man's home had committed suicide, state police said Friday.

Hallock Yocher, 37, killed himself in the backyard of 31-33 Marion Ave., state police said.

Authorities on Friday also identified the second victim, James T. Stuart, 39, and said he died from multiple gunshot wounds in his third-floor apartment at 31-33 Marion.

State police are investigating the relationship between Yocher and Stuart. Investigators have not mentioned any suspect in Stuart's murder. Earlier, police called it "an isolated incident" and said there was no threat to the community.

Yocher, a 10-year veteran of the department, had been battling Hodgkin lymphoma, a cancer of part of the immune system. He was on the job despite his illness but off duty at the time of the Marion Avenue incident, police said.

In January 2014, Yocher, his wife and three children went to Walt Disney World, SeaWorld Orlando and Universal Orlando in Florida, a trip paid for by the Dream Foundation, a California nonprofit that helps terminally ill adults fulfill end-of-life dreams.
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David Crowley Murder Suicide Investigation Took Strange Twist

Disturbing details of Minnesota filmmaker's murder-suicide emerge one year after killings
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Christopher Brennan
January 16, 2016

Beauty Komel Crowley met her husband when he was serving with the Army in Texas, was raised Muslim in Pakistan and converted to Christianity for her marriage.

Investigators say that a Quran was open in the family's living room to a page with a prayer for forgiveness.

Disturbing details about the last moments of a Minnesota man who shot his wife and child before turning the gun on himself have surfaced one year after the killings.

The bodies of 29-year-old Twin Cities screenwriter David Crowley, his wife Komel and their five-year-old Raniya were discovered in their suburban home last January.

Those around the family were stunned by the tragedy, though relatives and neighbors said that they hadn’t seen from them over the holidays and the execution-style deaths are thought to have occurred the day after Christmas.

David Crowley's brother had left Christmas presents on the family's door that went unopened.

Police Crowley also may have tried to kill the family dog, though the animal survived and scavenged from its owners’ bodies before they were found.
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After 15 Years in National Guard, Dad and Daughters Died

Levi Parker served in the Arizona National Guard for 15 years but his life ended after the lives of his two daughters.

There are stories on military related PTSD from all over the country. Some are wide spread, like all the groups raising money so they can "raise awareness" but not much else. There are reports about the military doing their "resilience training" to make service members "mentally tough" just as there are reports about the multitude of suicides tied to PTSD.

What you don't read often enough is the truth. These men and women survived putting their lives on the line for the sake of someone else yet sacrificed their futures because they had a harder time living after combat.

If you only know what little you've read before, then it will be easy to read this story and then assume PTSD veterans are dangerous murderers. The truth is, the outcome you'll read is a rarity.

Let your heart break for the two young daughters and the family. Let your heart break for the community in shock as well as the first responders. Let your heart break for as long as you need to, then let that heartbreak turn into action. Demand accountability from Congress with jurisdiction over the DOD and the VA because they write the bills and fund them but never explain the deplorable results to anyone. Demand accountability from all the charities out there raising money to "raise awareness" because so far they have yet to make veterans aware of how they can heal or even give them a reason to want to.

Arizona dad who fatally shot two young daughters two days before Christmas has died
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
BY KERI BLAKINGER
Friday, December 25, 2015

“I personally think he’s been through so much in the military, almost 15 years. He could have developed PTSD or some kind of mental condition.” Joan Parker

Parker killed his two daughter, 8-year-old MacKenzie (l) and 5-year-old Haylee (r).

The Arizona dad and National Guard member who killed his two young daughters in cold blood has died, officials said.

Levi Parker, 37, murdered the children, MacKenzie Lee Parker, 8, and Haylee Parker, 5, in the midst of a custody battle with his estranged wife, according to a report.

Deputies were called to the Parker home at Veranda at Ventana Condominiums around 7 p.m. on Wednesday, after the girls’ mother received a threatening phone call.

"He made statements to her that basically led her to believe this was her last chance to talk to the kids alive," Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said, according to KNXV-TV.

When they arrived on scene five minutes later, deputies “attempted to talk to a male inside the residence from outside the front door,” the sheriff’s department said in a statement.

“Soon after, deputies heard one gun shot and they forced entry into the home. Inside, they found the father and two daughters, all with gun shot wounds.”
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Tucson News

Miami Family Grieving After Murder Suicide

Mother, son found dead in Miami home in apparent murder-suicide 
Woman finds mother in pool of blood, calls 911
Local 10 News
Author: Peter Burke, Managing Editor
Amy Viteri, Reporter
Published On: Nov 25 2015

Sources told Local 10 News that Loholfftz was preparing a Thanksgiving turkey when she was shot. They said Reyes' sister and friend told them he was an Army veteran and suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.

MIAMI - A woman and her son were found dead inside a Miami home in an apparent murder-suicide.

The discovery was made Wednesday afternoon in the 1700 block of Northwest 30th Street.

Miami police said a woman entered the home, found her mother lying in a pool of blood and saw her brother sitting in the living room with what appeared to be a gun, so she ran out of the house and called 911.

When police arrived, they found the woman's mother and brother dead of gunshot wounds.
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Firefighter Fatally Shoots Wife, a Sheriff’s Deputy

Firefighter Fatally Shoots Wife, a Sheriff’s Deputy, in Apparent Murder-Suicide
LASD
KTLA News
BY TRACY BLOOM, KAREEN WYNTER, SARA WELCH AND MARY BETH MCDADE SEPTEMBER 7, 2015

A firefighter fatally shot his wife inside a La Canada Flintridge home before turning the gun on himself in an apparent-murder suicide, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said on Monday.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department provided this image of Cecilia Hoschet

who was shot and killed in an apparent murder-suicide on Sept. 6, 2015.

Deputies initially responded to a report of a "woman screaming" at approximately 10 p.m. on Sunday in the 5000 block of Crown Avenue, according to a Sheriff's Department's news release.

Based on a preliminary investigation, it appeared the couple had been involved in some sort of fight or altercation when the husband opened fire, Lt. David Coleman of the sheriff's Homicide Bureau said at an early morning news conference.

Deputies arrived at the residence and found the door was open, Coleman said. They then discovered the victim, who suffered an apparent gunshot wound and was pronounced dead at the scene.

She was identified by the Sheriff's Department as Cecilia Hoschet, a 2-year veteran of the department.
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Double Murder-Suicide In Utah Tied To Iraq War

Story Update

Reeves was a military veteran with a history of violence. The 30-year-old Murray man was arrested in August 2014 for threatening to kill the same family members.

Reeves was facing five counts of aggravated assault and four counts of domestic violence in the presence of a child. In January he was given a plea deal and placed in Veterans Court. If he completed the 36-month course, all charges would have been dropped.
FOX 13 Salt Lake

‘War was not good for John,’ says mother of Utah woman murdered by Army vet
The Salt Lake Tribune
By JENNIFER DOBNER
June 12, 2015

Murder-suicide » Johnathon Andrew Reeves shot and killed his fiancee and young son Sunday before killing himself, police say.

Sheryl Adams didn't hear the sound of the gunshot over the phone.

She only heard her daughter screaming; the exact words, unintelligible.

"She was just screaming at him. Then I heard something muffled in the background and then the phone went quiet," Adams said.

That was at 11: 46 a.m. on Sunday, June 7.

By 11:51, police dispatchers were fielding a 911 call about a shooting in the Murray apartment complex that left 34-year-old Jamie Salazar, her 2-year-old son , Jordan, and the boy's 30-year-old father dead.

Murray police are investigating the incident as a double-murder suicide and believe Johnathon Andrew Reeves, an Army veteran who was struggling to deal with the emotional remnants of a tour in Iraq, shot his fiancée and child before turning the gun on himself.

"The war was not good for John. He had lots of flashbacks" said Adams. "He couldn't have been thinking clearly. He couldn't have had his head on straight. If he had, he wouldn't have done this."
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Fort Hood Soldier Kills 3, Self in Killeen Rampage

Shooter kills 3, self in Killeen rampage 
Killeen Daily Herald
Chris McGuinness Herald staff writer
February 24, 2015

Killeen police named a 30-year-old Fort Hood soldier as the person responsible for a deadly shooting rampage in a north Killeen neighborhood that left four dead and one seriously injured Sunday night.

Police said the suspect, Atase Giffa, opened fire on three people, killing two and injuring one before forcing his wife, 28-year-old Dawn Giffa, into another home, where he killed her and then himself.

Fort Hood did not immediately release Atase Giffa’s rank and unit.
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Double Murder-Suicide Claims Lives of Veteran Family

Apple Valley Couple, Child Found in Apparent Murder-Suicide were Dead for Weeks
KSTP.com
By: Ellen Galles
Created: 01/19/2015

David Crowley, his wife Komel Crowley, and their 5-year-old daughter were found dead inside their Apple Valley home over the weekend. Apple Valley police say the case appears to be a murder-suicide.

David Crowley was a veteran of the U.S. Army, he served five years and left in 2009 to become a filmmaker. Komel Crowley was a registered dietician who ran her own business. One friend says they doted on their five-year-old daughter.

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Before death of family, Apple Valley filmmaker voiced struggles over project
Twin Cities.com
By Nick Ferraro
POSTED: 01/20/2015

A photo from David Crowley's Instagram account shows Crowley with his wife, Komel.

In the days leading up to his death, David Crowley still had hope that his independent film would pan out.

But Crowley, an Apple Valley filmmaker and screenwriter, also showed concern over the project -- "Gray State," a movie that the Army veteran scripted but had yet to film.

In an email to a prospective producer, Crowley wrote that the project was "now almost completely abandoned" by its original backers and that he was "exhausted from carrying and managing this burden for so many years."

"Maybe the work load got too crazy; I don't know the personal reasons, but at the end of it all here I am at the end of the tunnel all alone," he wrote to a Los Angeles first assistant director in an email obtained by the Pioneer Press. "The fans continue to gather, but they're frustrated and despondent. No one believes anymore."

Crowley reached out to Jason Allen in the Dec. 17 email, asking if he wanted to be an executive producer and help out with the logistics of the film project, which he started about four years ago and revolves around a plot of government conspiracy.

"Jason, you know exactly what to do with this," Crowley wrote.

Allen didn't get the opportunity to take Crowley up on his offer.

On Saturday, Apple Valley police found Crowley, 29; his wife, Komel, a 28-year-old dietitian; and their 5-year-old daughter, Rani, dead of gunshot wounds in what investigators are saying was a murder-suicide at the family's home in the 1000 block of Ramsdell Drive.
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Latest Fort Lee Suicide Part of Many

Fort Lee has history of soldier killings, suicides
Times Dispatch
Mark Bowes
Richmond Times Dispatch
August 25, 2014

Fort Lee has seen at least four other soldiers commit suicide in the past three years, with two of them collectively killing five other people before fatally shooting themselves.

The soldiers who killed had served multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, and at least one of them was being treated for post-traumatic stress disorder after returning from his last deployment.

Three years ago today, Fort Lee Army Capt. Leonard J. Egland, 37, committed one of the worst multiple slayings in Chesterfield in a decade. Police said he fatally shot his estranged wife, Carrie P. Egland, 36; her new boyfriend, Scott T. Allred, 40; and Allred’s 7-year-old son, Morgan, in the Chester home the Eglands had shared before they separated about a year earlier and Egland moved out.

Police said Egland, an 18-year Army veteran who served combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, then traveled to Pennsylvania, where he fatally shot his estranged wife’s mother, Barbara Reuhl, 66, before dropping off his daughter unharmed at a hospital. Egland then fatally shot himself in Jamison, Pa., after firing at police who tried to stop him.
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Fort Lee Suicide

Murder-suicide shocks neighborhood of National Guardsman

Husband, Wife Dead in Apparent Murder-Suicide in Bristol
NBC News
By LeAnne Gendreau and Ari Mason
Wednesday, Jun 4, 2014

A young husband and wife were found dead in their home at 73 Henderson Street in Bristol on Wednesday morning in an apparent murder-suicide, according to police.

Authorities said children discovered the bodies of 26-year-old Alexander Ryng and his wife, 27-year-old Kyla Ryng and alerted neighbors. The two were found with gunshot wounds, police said.

The Associated Press reports that Kyla Ryng filed for divorce May 30, citing state court records.

The couple has three kids – ages 4 years, 3 years and 20 months – all of whom were home at the time. Police said none of the children were harmed.

Police responded to the neighborhood around 7 a.m. when a neighbor called after a visit from one of the youngsters.

It's not clear who killed whom. In a press conference late Wednesday afternoon, Bristol police Chief Thomas Grimaldi said Alexander Ryng legally purchased the weapon used in the shooting.

He did not identify Alexander and Kyla Ryng by name, but confirmed the shooting was a "domestic violence situation."

According to the U.S. Army National Guard, Ryng was a member of the Connecticut Army National Guard and was based in New London.
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