A man with a history of mental illness opened fire inside his North Carolina home, killing his wife and three children before turning the gun on himself, police said Monday.
Robert J. Crayton Jr., 45, fatally shot Athalia A. Crayton, 46, Kasin Crayton, 18, and two other children, who were 16 and 10, on Saturday morning, High Point police said.
Two people, 25 and 22, who were in the house fled shortly after 7 a.m. ET and started banging on neighbors’ doors in the 2700 block of Mossy Meadow pleading for help, police said.
Of those two adults, one was a “direct relation and the other was an acquaintance,” High Point police Lt. Patrick Welsh told reporters.
The motive for the shooting was unclear on Monday afternoon.
“That’s going to be a piece of the investigation. I’ve expressed this to the family, we may never know why — what goes through the hearts and minds of a person who would does this sometimes dies with him,” Welsh said. “We don’t have any indication right as to the ‘why.’ ”
The shooter was the target of a Jan. 3, 2022, involuntary commitment, officials said, though police are still seeking more information about that case.
“He was suffering from some mental illness,” Welsh said. “I can’t speak to the reason under the involuntary commitment. But we do believe it was taken out by the family.”
Saturday’s murder-suicide in North Carolina came three days after authorities said a Utah man gunned down seven members of his family before killing himself.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, call 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call the network, previously known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, at 800-273-8255, text HOME to 741741 or visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional resources.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
