GRESHAM, Ore. (AP) – A woman asked for help after her suicidal husband and their two young daughters vanished Wednesday, leading to a police shootout that ended with the man’s death and the discovery of the girls’ bodies in the backseat of his burning car, authorities said.
Few details have been released of the circumstances surrounding the deaths of the 42-year-old man and his daughters, ages 8 and 11, in a city near Portland. Police say the investigation will be lengthy.
A Portland woman reported that her suicidal husband threatened to hurt the girls before they went missing, Gresham police Sgt. John Rasmussen told reporters. Officers searching for the three spotted the man’s SUV in a gas station parking lot.
When an officer got out of his patrol car, the man lit his own SUV on fire, Rasmussen said. At least one officer opened fire, then police began searching for the girls and extinguishing the flames.
“They broke into the vehicle, they extracted the daughters,” he said of the officers. “Unfortunately, both the 8- and the 11-year-old daughter have been pronounced dead.”