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Laura Moberley: School teacher and her two children, 11 and 8, found shot dead at home in suspected murder-suicide

The three bodies were found after officers forced entry at the front door

HORRY COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA: An elementary school teacher from South Carolina and her two young children were found shot to death in what is believed to be a murder-suicide. After hearing shots fired on Wednesday afternoon, August 31, Horry County Police carried out a welfare check on a family and found the bodies of Laura Moberley, a 42-year-old teacher at Carolina Forest Elementary School, her son Eric, 11, and daughter Emily, 8. 

Horry County Coroner’s Office confirmed that the terrifying incident took place in Centennial Circle, located off Carolina Forest Boulevard. "HCPD is saddened to acknowledge the death of two young children in a shooting incident yesterday in the Carolina Forest area," police wrote in a statement. According to reports, officers made attempts to speak with those inside but received no response. The three bodies were found after officers forced entry at the front door.

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Investigation into the incident and efforts to notify the next of kin are being carried out by HCPD, Horry County Fire Rescue, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division Child Fatality Unit, and the Horry County Coroner's Office. The investigation is still ongoing, but according to HCPD, the community is not in danger. Horry County also said in the statement, "Our community is hurting today, and that is undeniable. We ask that you be kind to one another—you may not know who has been impacted by this tragedy."

According to Horry County Schools, Moberley was a Reading Loss Interventionist at Carolina Forest Elementary School. The district hired her in 2018. The school district also stated that Eric was in the seventh grade at Ten Oaks Middle School and Emily was a third-grader at Carolina Forest Elementary School.

A mother of three who had Laura teach her youngest son as a reading specialist just last year claimed Laura had a positive effect on her son's education. Brittany Kinneer thought back to her first encounter with her son's teacher and told WMBF, "All of a sudden I heard this energetic voice that was like, there’s my favorite little reader, and I turn around and she had Brady in a big bear hug, and she just full of compliments of Brady and you know just so full of life and such a kind heart."

Richard Rizzo, a neighbor who has lived in the small city for the past 13 years, told News13 that the situation on Centennial Circle was unlike anything he had ever witnessed. "This comes as a shock, I think, to most of us that live here, that something like this could happen so close to home," Rizzo said.

After the tragedy, Horry County Schools released a statement on Thursday morning that reads, "We are at a loss for words after learning of the tragic incident that affected an entire family with ties to Horry County Schools. We lift our strongest prayers for the Moberley family and for everyone who knew them. We encourage our community to keep our students and staff in their thoughts and prayers during this incredibly difficult time."

The statement continued, "Our district has a team of counselors made up of professionals trained to help with the needs of students, parents, and school personnel at difficult times such as this. Our counselors are available at the affected schools for any student or employee who may need or want assistance surrounding this tragedy."