According to investigators, a North Carolina man brutally shot his wife and three children before killing himself in a gruesome murder-suicide that left five people dead over the weekend.
What happened before?
Before the shooting began inside a residence Saturday morning, local authorities recognised the gunman as Robert Crayton Jr, who had a mental disease history. According to High Point police, Athalia Crayton, 46, the 45-year-old man’s wife, their children Kasin Crayton and two other unnamed children, ages 16 and 10, were all killed.
Two other persons, a relative and an acquaintance, were able to flee the house and seek assistance from neighbours, according to High Point police. Both survivors are in their twenties, a male and a woman.
Police During a news conference streamed on WFMY-TV, Lt. Patrick Welch stated that loved ones of the dead family told police Robert Crayton suffered from mental illness. According to Welch, he was issued an involuntary mental commitment order in January 2022. He believes the family obtained the mental commitment order.
Where did they get the pistol?
According to police, authorities paid five visits to the residence since 2014. Crayton was never arrested, according to Welch.
“They have not told us any information that he was necessarily a violent person on a daily basis,” Welch said of talks with the family’s relatives. “The only information that we have up to this point is that he was suffering with some mental illness.”
According to Welch, it’s unclear if the pistol was obtained lawfully. He also stated that the motivation for the fatal gunshot inside the residence was unknown.
“I’ve expressed this to the family as we may never know why,” he said. “What goes through the hearts and minds of a person who would do this sometimes dies with him.”
The murder-suicide in North Carolina occurred just days after an eight-person murder-suicide in Utah. In which a man fatally murdered his wife, five children, and mother-in-law before killing himself.
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