(Los Angeles) A 42-year-old man shot and killed his five children, his wife and his mother-in-law before killing himself in the western United States, two weeks after the mother-in-law officially requested divorce, local authorities announced on Thursday.
The first elements of the investigation “suggest that the suspect committed suicide after killing seven other people in the home”, explained in a press release the city of Enoch City, in Utah, where the tragedy took place. .
Police discovered the bodies Wednesday afternoon after receiving a call asking them to check on the family’s condition, according to the document.
They then discovered the eight corpses, all of which bore “gunshot wounds,” the statement continued.
The five children were between the ages of 4 and 17. The suspect, Michael Haight, also killed his 40-year-old wife and 78-year-old mother-in-law, before turning the gun on himself.
“A request for divorce had been filed” by the mother, Tausha Haight, “on December 21”, specified during a press conference Geoffrey Chesnut, the mayor of Enoch City, himself a neighbor of the family and very moved.
The police of this small town of 7,000 inhabitants, located in southwestern Utah, more than four hours by road from the state capital, Salt Lake City, had already intervened with the family.
“We had been involved in some investigations regarding this family a few years ago,” said local police chief Jackson Ames. However, he clarified that no recent event had aroused the concern of the police.
The White House responded Thursday, saying President Joe Biden and his wife Jill were “mourning with the people of Enoch City.”
“Too many Americans have lost loved ones or had their lives turned upside down by gun violence,” executive spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.
“Our hearts go out to all those affected by this senseless violence,” Republican Utah Governor Spencer Cox responded on Twitter, asking to pray for the residents of the city.
According to the Gun Violence Archive, 648 mass shootings (when at least four people died or were injured) mourned the United States in 2022. And eleven have already taken place in the first five days of 2023.