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Minnesota man Yia Xiong fatally shoots himself and wife after telling their 5 children to play in basement

Yia Xiong and Ka Lor's eldest son, 9, who heard three gunshots, rushed upstairs, saw his parents lying dead on the floor and called 911

SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA: In a tragic incident on Tuesday, August 16, a married couple, Yia Xiong, 33, and his wife, Ka Lor, 30, died in a murder-suicide in Minnesota. Xiong reportedly told his five children to play in the basement and later shot his wife dead before killing himself.

According to MPR News, their eldest son, 9, who heard three gunshots, rushed upstairs, saw his parents lying dead on the floor and called 911. The duo had been married for almost a decade.

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'My whole body still shakes'

Xiong’s elder brother Chee Nu Xiong said in a press conference at the Hmong 18 Council, "Just thinking about my sister-in-law and my brother. It’s, it’s just heartbroken. They won’t be there anymore." "My whole body still shakes," he said. "It's just something where it pulls your heart out and a piece of it's not there anymore," added the brother. "I think that every moment, I mean what if he could've given me a call?” Nu said in the press conference. He further stated, “That second, I would've been able to just drive over there — 'Hey, let's go out, or talk somewhere, or do something besides being in the house."

“We were joking; there’s no voice or change that I would’ve known, that you know what would happen,” Nou told KARE11 in an interaction. “The father asked the five kids to go down in the basement, just go play or whatever. The older son heard three gunshots,” he added. The family was just back from their annual summer camping trip to Duluth. Xiong's great-grandfather, Jouatrue Siong spoke to KARE 11 and said, "I can tell you as a grandpa, they are a great couple together, great parents. They have never shown any physical harm". Further, he added, "Now that they're gone, I don't know what to do. I still don't know what happened and I will miss them." 

A tweet by Saint Paul Police Department read, "The Ramsey Co. ME has identified the deceased as; Ka Lor, a 30-year-old female, and Yia Xiong, a 33-year-old male. Both from St Paul. There are no suspects being sought, and no arrests have been made."

The family of Xiong started a GoFundMe campaign to meet the future expenses of the five children. The campaign note stated, "On Tuesday, August 16th, we lost our brother, Yia Xiong, and sister-in-law, Ka Lor. This was a tragic loss to our family. Yia and Ka left behind five children all under the age of 10. Our family is creating this gofundme page to help with raising donations for traditional funeral expenses for Yia and Ka. Any extra donations will go towards the expenses of the children and getting them ready for school without the help of their parents. We greatly appreciate your donation and support during this tough time."