Tamara Sawyer: Woman shot dead by ex-BF in her home before killing himself as family watches in horror
![Tamara Sawyer’s family was home when gunshots rang out from her bedroom on Sunday, Oct 9 (Screenshot/KHOU-11)](http://d2a0gza273xfgz.cloudfront.net/587798/uploads/e6ff1b90-49da-11ed-a9c1-ef9b4943ae5c_1200_630.png)
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HARRIS COUNTY, TEXAS: An aspiring nurse and her ex-boyfriend were killed in an apparent murder-suicide, police said. According to Harris County Sheriff's Office, 23-year-old Tamara Sawyer was fatally shot by her former partner at around 3.pm on October 9, just a few moments after he showed up at her home. He showed up announced after he contacted Sawyer earlier that day, says the sheriff's office.
The aspiring nurse allowed him inside and they were inside a room for 10 minutes when suddenly Sawyer's family members heard three gunshots. They found her shot dead after they went inside the room. "After several failed attempts to get the ex-boyfriend to drop his weapon, family members went to retrieve a phone to call 911 and then heard another gunshot," according to a sheriff's office press release. "They return and found the ex-boyfriend deceased with a self-inflicted gunshot wound." No one else was injured or killed.
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The sheriff's office said the two had periodic relationships since high school. According to KHOU-11, family members claimed that the duo had split up a month earlier. At the time of the shooting Sawyer's current boyfriend was also inside the room. Her ex-boyfriend whose name was not disclosed, had brought a gun with him. Sawyer was originally from Ohio as per the reports of Click2Houston and was studying nursing at Houston Community College. She was the youngest in her family and graduated from Madison High School.
MEAWW previously reported that a married couple, Yia Xiong, 33, and his wife, Ka Lor, 30, died in a murder-suicide in Minnesota on August 16. 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. 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."