A mother-of-two was shot dead by her husband in front of her children at one of their birthday parties.
Cheryl L Pilarowski, 32, was celebrating one of her children’s birthdays at Jump N Jam, a business with games for children in Marysville, Minnesota, when the shooting took place.
Police said that her 34-year-old husband, who hasn’t been named, later shot and killed himself at the family’s home in Kimball Township, according to MLive.
Deputy Police Chief Ron Buckmaster told the outlet that the shooting took place around 5.30pm on Saturday, and said it caused chaos because there were a few dozen children and adults all celebrating at the venue.
Cheryl L Pilarowski, 32, was celebrating one of her children’s birthdays at Jump N Jam (pictured), a business with games for children in Marysville, Minnesota, when her husband shot her dead, police have said
The incident happened at Jump N Jam in front of the couple’s four-year-old child, and Pilarowski’s nine-year-old who she had from a different relationship (pictured is the Jump N Jam logo)
‘As you can probably imagine, there was just mass chaos there,’ Buckmaster said.
He explained that at first there was some confusion and thought that the incident might be a robbery because there was money scattered around Pilarowski’s body.
But, he said that a witness told them it was her husband.
‘We found out it was her husband and that he came in and shot her at point-blank range,’ he said.
The incident happened in front of the couple’s four-year-old child, and Pilarowski’s nine-year-old who she had from a different relationship.
As Pilarowski was rushed to Lake Huron Medical Center in Port Huron responders performed life-saving measures, but were unsuccessful. She was pronounced dead from her injuries at the hospital.
Witnesses at the birthday party told police that the couple was married in April, and had been in a fight in the parking lot of the Jump N Jam earlier in the day.
They said Pilarowski was planning on moving out of their family home and leaving her husband in the near future.
As soon as police found out where the couple lived police surrounded the home.
‘The suspect’s vehicle was parked in font of the residence, lights were on,’ Buckmaster said.
A search warrant for the property was quickly granted and the special response team entered the home to find the suspect dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
This is the first homicide in St Clair County since 1995, Buckmaster told MLive.
He said that the thing that upsets him the most about the murder is that it was done in front of young children.