Police are investigating what seems to be a murder-suicide case in San Antonio, Texas.
The case involves a boy who is only three years old, his sister, five years old, their grandmother, 69 years old, and mother, 38 years old, who also turns out to be the suspect.
In a statement by the chief of the San Antonio Police Department, William McManus, the incident was described as tragic and is beyond words.
The Investigation
The initial investigation by the San Antonio Police Department reveals that the mother shot to death her kids and their grandmother, later turning on the gun to herself, taking her life.
The police initially responded to a call about a dead person. It was in the apartment complex in the gated Sedona Ranch, which is at 17655 Henderson Pass.
The father of the children made the call to the police. He peeked through the window of the apartment and saw the bodies in the rooms.
He had been trying to contact the mother of his children but could not reach her for days. He decided to check the apartment on Monday, April 27; a horrific scene met him.
The police found four bodies inside the apartment. The bodies were in two different rooms.
Authorities are still investigating the possible number of days the bodies have been there. Medical examiners have already conducted their investigation on the crime scene.
The Possible Reason Behind the Killing
Chief McManus has already ruled out the connection of the shootings to the stress brought by the coronavirus because the father shared with authorities the possible reason behind the case.
Chief McManus shared with the media that "according to the father, she [mother] had lost custody of the children very, very, very recently, and this was the terrible end result of that."
Although the incident ended in a very terrible way, the now estranged husband shared with the police that his wife had no prior manifestation of violence.
Recorded Murder-Suicide Cases
Chief McManus, in his briefing, shared that they have seen other cases with the same scenario. When a parent loses custody of his or her children, whatever the reason is, this parent could resort to murder and then suicide.
In May 2018, a case similar was also recorded in Texas. Three children, including their mother and her boyfriend, were shot by the father, in their house in Ponder, Texas. The mother survived the shooting and said that she had warned authorities about the mental state of her former husband, but she claims no one heard her out. She and her husband divorced in 2017.
Also, just recently, in March, a boy was killed by his father in California. The father shot his 10-year-old boy after losing the custody battle over the child against the mother. The perpetrator has expressed suicidal thoughts since 2016. That was also the reason why the mother of the child was granted temporary sole custody. The gun used by the father was legally purchased after mental professionals cleared him.
