Kansas father shoots dead his four children and their mother, then himself
A man in Winfield, Kansas killed his four young children and their mother before taking his own life, the second such family mass killing in the US Midwest in two weeks.
Authorities in Winfield, Kansas said a 53-year-old man, Ronald Williams Sr, called police at 8.50am on Tuesday to report that he had killed his entire family and intended to kill himself as well.
When officers arrived at the home, they heard a gunshot and retreated, setting up a perimeter and treating the scene as a barricade situation. After a Swat team forced entry around 11am, they discovered six bodies inside: Williams himself, 44-year-old Kelly George, and their four children — nine-year-old Carol Williams, seven-year-old Ronald Williams Jr, five-year-old Sarah Williams, and three-year-old Kelly Magee-Williams.
Winfield police chief Robbie DeLong said his department had received reports in recent weeks of Williams behaving aggressively, including confronting and yelling at people in public. Officers had also previously responded to reports of gunfire near the family's home but had never been able to identify its source. DeLong said the reports of aggressive and erratic behavior were not sufficient grounds for police to act, and that nothing pointed clearly to what would happen. He described the case as one of the most disturbing he has encountered in more than two decades on the force.
The Kansas Bureau of Investigation said no motive has yet been determined and that investigators would speak with neighbors and acquaintances of Williams. Officers involved in the response are being connected with mental health resources. According to the state sex offender registry, Williams was a registered sex offender; Kansas court records show that in 1999 he pleaded guilty to two felony counts of attempted indecent liberties with a child and one battery count, all involving the same 15-year-old victim.
Second such case in two weeks
The killings come just two weeks after a Michigan man fatally shot his wife and six children before setting their home on fire in Grand Haven Township. According to the nonpartisan Gun Violence Archive, that Michigan case was the 13th mass killing of this type in the US this year, while Tuesday's shooting in Kansas brings the total to 15. At least nine of this year's cases meet the definition of family annihilation, a crime most often committed by an armed male against multiple close relatives.
