Two adults and two children were found dead in a Texas home in an apparent murder-suicide, police said.
The four victims were discovered Thursday afternoon by Granbury cops responding to a welfare check, department officials said in a statement Friday.
The bodies of Marcus Buchanan, 36, wife Rita Buchanan, 34, and two girls ages 3 and 13 were found dead from gunshot wounds inside the residence.
“There was evidence at the scene that was consistent with a murder-suicide, but the final determination has yet to be concluded as this is still an active investigation,” Granbury police said. “At this time, there is no evidence of anyone else being involved in this incident.”
Investigators did not identify the suspected shooter or the relationship among the victims, but WFAA reported the dead girls were the couple’s daughters.
Shocked neighbors who said they saw no earlier signs of distress at the home told the station they often saw Marcus and his wife spending time together while sitting on a front porch.
“To say I’m shocked is kind of like an understatement,” Granbury resident Madison McVay said. “We saw the trampoline in the backyard and it was triggering just knowing it will never be jumped on again, they won’t be playing in the backyard again.”
The two girls were students in the Granbury Independent School District, officials said.
“The death of a student is one of the hardest things any school district faces,” district officials said in a statement. “The tragic loss of two of our precious students is heartbreaking for students, teachers and staff, and our community.”
Maddison Blanchard told WFAA she was friendly with the 13-year-old victim, regularly riding with her on a school bus.
“We were really close,” the teen told the station. “She always rode the bus every morning. We would walk together. She was a really good person, and I am really shocked.”
Blanchard’s mother, Crystal, told KDFW the family had moved to the town about 35 miles southwest of Fort Worth from Las Vegas about six months ago. The Buchanans had worked from home, she said.
“She was always over for dinner or snacks or movie night,” Crystal Blanchard said of the 13-year-old victim. “I mean no, there was never any indication that anything was wrong.”
Marcus Buchanan did not have a criminal record, but Rita Buchanan had been charged with disorderly conduct in 2014 in Henderson, Nevada, KDFW reported.
Child welfare officials, meanwhile, declined to indicate if they had a prior history with the family, according to the station.
“Who does that to a child?” Crystal Blanchard asked. “Those children were innocent. They didn’t deserve that.”