Republished July 27, 2022 - 6:17 PM
Original Publication Date July 27, 2022 - 4:06 PM
FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) — A 15-year-old boy shot and killed three siblings at a home near Fairbanks and was found dead with an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities announced Wednesday.
Alaska State Troopers in a statement said they received a report of shots being fired at a Fairbanks home on Tuesday afternoon. The report came from a neighbor, troopers spokesperson Tim DeSpain said.
Responding troopers found four children dead from apparent gunshot wounds. The children's parents were not home when the shooting occurred, the troopers said.
Three other children were at the home and were not injured, the statement said. DeSpain said the children who were not injured are all under the age of 7, while those dead were ages 5, 8, 17 and 15. He said all the children were siblings.
Troopers said the state Office of Children’s Services had been notified. Clinton Bennett, a spokesperson for the state Department of Family and Community Services, under which the office falls, said by email that the office “will not provide any information due to rules and regulations involving the confidentiality of all involved in specific cases.”
The office also will “not provide any information involving a case with an open investigation,” Bennett wrote.
Troopers said their investigation shows a 15-year-old boy shot three siblings and then shot himself. DeSpain said the question of motive is part of the investigation.
The bodies were being sent to the state medical examiner's office.
DeSpain said the gun was a “family gun but beyond that, it's all still part of the ongoing investigation." He could not say if the 15-year-old had had any previous interactions with law enforcement, saying that would be part of the investigation.
Fairbanks is in central Alaska, about 360 miles (580 kilometers) north of Anchorage.
News from © The Associated Press, 2022