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Arkansas murder-suicide: Family of 3 girls and 2 women, aged 8 to 50, found shot dead at home on Christmas day

The Arkansas police believe that the incident was domestic and the suspect is believed to be among those who were found dead at the residence
UPDATED DEC 27, 2020
(GoFundMe)
(GoFundMe)

ATKINS, ARKANSAS: Five family members are "suspected to have been killed at home" in a horrific murder-suicide on Christmas Day, the authorities have revealed. 

The Arkansas police believe that the incident was domestic and the suspect is believed to be among those who were found dead at the residence. The authorities said in a press conference that the deputies with the Pope County Sheriff's Office responded to a home close to the town of Atkins on Friday evening, December 25. 

The incident came to light after a relative visited to find three children and two adult women, aged between 8 and 50, lying dead inside the home. At a news briefing, Pope County Sheriff Shane Jones said, "We believe this to be an isolated incident between family members within the home. It's too early to tell, but we believe some of them are gunshot victims." The officials said that it is unknown as to how long the family members had been dead before they were found and a motive behind the incident is currently not known. 

While speaking of the case, Jones revealed, "It's rare anywhere. We just need to pray for a family that's just been devastated." At an earlier press conference, a spokesperson revealed, "Tragedy has struck Pope County on this Christmas Day."

A press release from the police revealed that the cops had been called to the home at 5.14 pm. A spokesperson shared, "Upon arrival, we did notice that there were potentially five victims within this residence."

A KARK reporter Caitrin Assaf had taken to Twitter to share that four patrol cars from the Pope County Sheriff's Office and the Atkins Police Department were outside of a home. The police said in a press conference that they could not offer any more information as the investigation is ongoing. 

Many social media users commented on the police's press conference on Facebook and expressed their sadness. One such user shared, "This is such a horrible thing to happen. Praying for families." Another user commented, "I was really hoping this would be a Christmas Day that no one got killed! So very sad." Yet another shared, "My condolences and prayers for the families."

On Sunday, December 27, some relatives of the family members set up a GoFundMe campaign in order to raise funds for the funerals of those who had died in the incident, 7news.au has revealed. The organizer of the campaign, Melissa Renee Brown, said, "On Christmas day, we received unimaginable news. Five of our precious relatives were found deceased in their home. A grandmother, mother, and three children, all taken from us," Brown added. She revealed that she had received permission from the only surviving family member to create the fundraiser on their behalf. 

The fundraiser post stated, "We need the community to pray for peace, guidance, wisdom, truth, and justice. We need you to share this post. And for anyone who can donate anything, big or small, we thank you tremendously for the outpouring of love."

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