Four children have died in Alaska after a 15-year-old boy allegedly shot three of his siblings before committing suicide, state troopers told local media.
Alaska State Troopers received a report of a shooting in the Skyridge Drive subdivision north of Fairbanks just before 4:20 p.m. Tuesday, NBC affiliate KTUU, based in Anchorage, Alaska.
Responding soldiers found four children dead of apparent gunshot wounds in a residence, the branch said.
Troopers said the 15-year-old boy allegedly shot three of his siblings, ages 5, 8 and 17, before turning a gun on himself, KTUU and Associated Press reported. Three other siblings in the home, all under the age of 7, were not injured, they said.
Soldiers said the children’s parents were not home when the incident unfolded, according to both media outlets.
Alaska State Troopers spokesman Tim DeSpain said authorities are still investigating any potential motives behind the fatal incident, AP reported.
DeSpain said the gun was a “family weapon, but beyond that, it’s all still part of the ongoing investigation.” He could not say if the 15-year-old had any previous interactions with law enforcement, also saying that would be part of the investigation.
The state’s Office of Children’s Services has been notified of the shooting and the children’s bodies are being sent to the state Medical Examiner’s Office, state troopers said, according to news reports.
Clinton Bennett, spokeswoman for the state Department of Family and Community Services, which oversees the Bureau of Children’s Services, told AP in an email that the bureau “will not be providing any information due to rules and regulations implying the confidentiality of all persons involved in particular cases.”
The bureau also will not provide “any information regarding any matter under active investigation,” Bennett wrote.
The Alaska State Troopers and Bureau of Children’s Services did not immediately respond to overnight requests for comment from NBC News.
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