Police believe the husband killed his family before shooting himself, and a teenage son was critically injured.
The bodies of Bo Mih, 38, her daughters Christina Rhee, 8, and Nia Mih, 2, and son Bo Rhee, 11, were found Tuesday in their home in West Valley City, a suburb of Salt Lake City. A handgun was recovered from the 42-year-old father, Dai Rah, in what police believe was a murder-suicide, but no evidence of a motive has been released.
One child, 17-year-old Sharah, survived a gunshot wound to the head and is hospitalized with a brain injury, police said.
Bo Myh, who belongs to Myanmar’s Kearny ethnic minority, fled what her relatives described as ethnic cleansing in the Southeast Asian country about 10 years ago. He and his small family lived briefly in a refugee camp in Thailand, then came to America “with little more than the clothes on their backs.” statement.
He taught himself English, learned new skills and worked hard to support his growing family, creating a way of life “far more than the nightmare of his former country or refugee camp,” the family said. got
“For reasons we cannot understand, her husband took away her and their children’s safety and their lives,” her family said.
Police believe the shooting happened over the weekend.
Police initially went to the home Monday night after a relative asked them to check on the family but found no signs of an emergency that would have allowed them to enter the home. The relative went home on Tuesday, found Shahrah injured in the garage and called the police, who found the bodies inside the house.
In their statement, relatives called Shah Rukh their hero and said he faced “a long and complicated road to recovery”. An online fundraiser is collecting donations to pay for her care and help her go to college.
Police spokeswoman Roxanne Vennocco said at a news conference Wednesday that neighbors had not reported any shots fired in the area over the weekend. The family had no previous reports of domestic violence or other problems.
A neighbor spoke to CBS affiliate KUTV. About the shock they felt.
“How can a father shoot his children?” Neighbor Mike Webster told the station. “I can’t understand the concept at all. I’m just looking at this poor two-year-old looking at his father.”
The Utah incident is the 38th homicide in the U.S. this year. At least 165 people have died this year in U.S. mass killings, which the FBI defines as cases in which four or more people are killed in a 24-hour period, including by killers. Not included.
Mark Burden, whose child was killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting, urged Utah lawmakers to pass red flag laws after the incident in Utah, KUTV reported. Reported.
“When it is recognized that an individual is in crisis, measures to safely and temporarily remove a firearm from their possession are proven to save lives,” Barden said.