SOUTH JORDAN, Utah (AP) — Two children are dead after authorities in Utah say their father killed them and then himself inside their home in a Salt Lake City suburb.
The South Jordan Police Department responded at about 4:30 p.m. Tuesday to a medical call at the home. Authorities did not disclose how the children were killed and how the father died.
Police Lt. Matt Pennington said officers found an 8-year-old boy and a 10-year-old boy dead, as well as a man in his 30s believed to be their father.
“Once we arrived on scene it was pretty chaotic,” Pennington said. “What we have come to find out we have is what we believe to be a domestic murder-suicide at this point.”
Police have previously responded to domestic incidents at the home, but nothing had been reported on Tuesday regarding any disturbances at the home before the emergency medical call, Pennington said.
Police believe the children’s mother made the call after she returned home.
The father “was not living here at the time,” Pennington said. “They had separated. He was here, from my understanding, watching the children when this took place.”
The family was not immediately identified by the police department. An investigation is ongoing.
“This is just a tragedy on every level. There is nothing that’s OK about this. It’s not something that should happen,” South Jordan Mayor Dawn Ramsey said, encouraging victims and perpetrators of domestic violence to seek help.
“It is not worth your life or the life of your loved ones. Someone can connect you with help,” she said.
