Border protection officer ‘shoots and kills his wife and two sons before turning the gun on himself in triple murder-suicide’
- Officials in Florida say US Customs and Border Protection agent assigned to Orlando International Airport killed his family sometime before Thursday
- Deputies performing welfare check discovered bodies of the agent, his wife and two sons Thursday afternoon
- Eldest boy attended East River High School and was on junior varsity basketball team
A US Customs and Border Protection agent killed his wife and two school-aged sons, before taking his own life at the family’s Florida home, authorities said Thursday night.
Deputies responded to a residence in the 2000 block of Circle Glen Drive east of Orlando at around 3pm on Thursday after the agent’s colleagues expressed concern when he failed to show up for work, Orange County Sheriff John Mina said at a news conference.
Deputies learned the family members hadn’t been seen since last week, so they entered the home to perform a welfare check and found the four family members dead from gunshot wounds.
‘It’s just a tragic circumstance,’ Mina said,
Investigators were not immediately identifying the victims or the agent, who worked at the Orlando International Airport.
Mina said the deceased included a woman in her 30s, a middle-school-age boy and a high-school-age boy.
Graylann Holland, 15, told Orlando Sentinel that he attended East River High School with the officer’s eldest son and was on the junior varsity basketball team with him.
Graylann said he last saw his friend, whom he’s known since fourth grade, last Thursday and exchanged text messages with him that Friday.
Neighbors told WFTV they believe the family had lived in the home for five or six years, and they would often see the Border Patrol officer walking the family dog.
According to Mina, deputies were never called to the family’s home before Thursday.