ROY, Utah (AP) – A Utah man apparently shot and killed his wife and two young children before turning the gun on himself on Father’s Day, stunning neighbors on their quiet, suburban street who described the man Monday as a happy, doting father.
Officers discovered the bodies Sunday night: Russell Smith, 29; his wife, Shawna Smith, 26; and their children, 6-year-old daughter Tylee and 2-year-old son Blake.
It appeared Russell Smith shot himself and the others, and investigators were not looking for any suspects, said police Lt. Kevin Smith, who is not related to the family.
“Sweetest little family you ever saw. I can’t imagine,” next-door neighbor LaRue Simpson said Monday. “Something must have gone really wrong yesterday because they were not like that at all.”
Police received a 911 call about an assault at the house in Roy – a city of about 38,000 people roughly 30 miles north of Salt Lake City – at 10 p.m. on Father’s Day. The call came from a relative who had stopped by the residence.