Pima County Sheriff: Tucson Dad Shoots Daughters, Turns Gun on Himself

[Judi Lynn]

Source: NBC News

Pima County Sheriff: Tucson Dad Shoots Daughters, Turns Gun on Himself

by Andrew Rudansky and Henry Austin
Dec 24 2015, 4:23 am ET

A father shot dead his two young daughters before apparently turning a gun on himself in Arizona, police said late Wednesday.

The Pima County Sherrif's Department said in a statement that a mother called 911 on Wednesday evening to report "a threatening phone call from her estranged husband" who had their daughters.

Deputies dispatched to his residence and "attempted to talk to a male inside" but shortly after heard a single gunshot, the sheriff's department said.

"Inside, they found the father and two daughters, all with gunshot wounds," according to the statement.


Read more: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/pima-county-sheriff-tuscon-dad-shoots-daughters-turns-gun-himself-n485466

[CBGLuthier]

1. Sadly, it wouldn't be Christmas in America without a few of these stories.

Fuck every parent that murders their children.

[Human101948]

5. America! Fuck yeah!

Something we can all be proud of!

[newfie11]

7. What the hell has happens to this country?????

I'm 68 and this shit rarely happened happened!!
What's happening to America????
Why is there so much hate?

[sorefeet]

8. Right wing extremeism

religious zealots, Citizen United, fairness doctrine, voting laws, unregulated capitalism, lack of education, blaring ignorance, rampant racism, denial, greed and NO SHAME. I can go on.

[CBHagman]

12. Familicides are not new, unfortunately.

Multiple-victim murders and/or murder-suicides committed by family members are not new; they've been documented and studied for years. The Internet and social media in particular shape people's perspectives on this. There are many cases, past and present, that might not have drawn media attention.

[url]https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R44126.pdf[/url]

[url]http://www.nij.gov/journals/266/pages/murderfamilies.aspx[/url]

The Campbell below is Jacquelyn C. Campbell of Johns Hopkins University:

"Campbell, Anna D. Wolf Chair and professor at JHU's School of Nursing, discussed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Violent Death Reporting System. Of the 408 homicide-suicide cases, most perpetrators were men (91 percent) and most used a gun (88 percent). A 12-city study that Campbell conducted of these cases found that intimate-partner violence had previously occurred in 70 percent of them. Interestingly, only 25 percent of prior domestic violence appeared in the arrest records, according to Campbell. Researchers uncovered much of the prior domestic violence through interviews with family and friends of the homicide victims. 'Prior domestic violence is by far the number-one risk factor in these cases,' Campbell said.

"She also explained that most people who commit murder-suicide are non-Hispanic white males who kill their mates or former mates. Prior domestic violence is the greatest risk factor in these cases. Access to a gun is a significant risk factor, as are threats with a weapon, a stepchild in the home or estrangement. However, a past criminal history is not a reliable or significant predictor in murder-suicide.

"In the aftermath of a family murder followed by a suicide, communities, police, researchers and others search for explanations. In difficult financial times, it may be natural to look for economic influences, especially when the killer has recently lost a job or has enormous financial problems. Campbell found that unemployment was a significant risk factor for murder-suicide but only when combined with a history of domestic violence. In other words, it was not a risk factor in and of itself but was something that tipped the scale following previous abuse."

[url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_familicides_in_the_United_States[/url]


In the United States crime has actually been going down for years. That doesn't take away from the horror and of course the sheer tragedy of these cases.

[SheilaT]

26. Unfortunately, this shit has been happening for

many years. It's just that these days this sort of local story shooting winds up everywhere, thanks to the internet, so you read about shootings you might not have heard of twenty or thirty years ago.

[Sherman A1]

2. Sad

[Feeling the Bern]

3. My backyard. :sigh:

[BeanMusical]

4. So sad...

[mtasselin]

6. tears

After reading this I have tears for the girls that will never grow up to enjoy life, raise a family and I'm sure were looking forward to Christmas. Tears go out to the mother who thought her baby girls would be safe with their father, just tears, when will these needless gun deaths end?

[Archae]

23. When humans end.

We can't outlaw all guns, and there always will be the (literally) terminally selfish among us.

"If I can't have (fill in the blank), nobody can!"

[7962]

9. Worthless bastard.

[Turbineguy]

10. Wayne LaPierre

wishes all a Merry Christmas. Now go out and shoot somebody.

[tabasco]

11. I'm sure he was a member of the "well-regulated militia"

so what's the big deal?

[GoldenOldie]

13. Woke up to this devastating news!

Young mother is co-worker of my daughter. Recent divorce, father had Christmas custody of Children so mother chose to work shift so others could be home with their families. daughter and others called into help in anyway possible. Who knows what was going on in this mans mind....Christmas is not always joyful for many. This young mother will need all the love and support she can get and I know her co-workers will be there for her!
Makes me appreciate my family even more. I am blessed!

[classof56]

15. Thanks for sharing this info. Good to know the mother has a support group to stand with her

Doesn't lessen the horror and sadness of the situation, of course. Those little girls were 7 and 5--how heartbreaking! Words fail me except to say, please thank your daughter and her co-workers for the love and support they provide.

[Judi Lynn]

19. It's overwhelming. Can't imagine how the mother herself could overcome this in her lifetime.

So sad it's beyond belief.

That one man saw himself and his displeasure as far more important than all of the others.

Best wishes to your daughter, and coworkers, as she tries to find the way to best relate to this badly damaged young soul.

Hope she will make it through her grief and find peace, in time.

[BeyondGeography]

14. Poor babies

Their dad was the absolute worst kind of loser.

[bdwker]

16. There are things I will never understand.

Like killing your children. sick.

[Stuart G]

17. Sad.

[JohnnyRingo]

18. He did it backwards.

He should have been first.

I know that comes off as callous, but those little girls did nothing wrong to deserve such an awful fate.

[libodem]

20. How many households

Are held hostage by a tyrant threatening to murder everyone unless strict obedience is maintained?

America home of the free and the brave, if you're packin'.

If you are not then your freedom to enjoy life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is really impinged upon. You can expect to be shot up everywhere and anywhere by your loved ones or strangers.

I wonder if this is America's karma for our response to the middle east? Our own special war zone at home.

RIP girls.

[red dog 1]

21. What makes someone like that tick?

No wonder the rest of the world looks upon America as "The Wild, Wild West"

(K&R, Thanks for posting Judi Lynn)

[Skittles]

24. people who hate their ex more than they love their own children?

I see them everywhere

[red dog 1]

25. Yeah, but "hating your ex" and murdering your own children, are 2 distinct things

Obviously this asshole had severe psychological problems; but i can't help but think that if he lived in a European country, with guns being much harder to get, perhaps he might have just taken an overdose of sleeping pills or something & his kids would still be alive.

IMO, there are too damn many guns in this country and the gun laws that are on the books are mostly a joke, thanks to the power the NRA has in this country.

[Ptah]

22. Sheriff: Father in Foothills shooting dies; victims ID'd

Authorities identified Levi J. Parker as the man involved in a shooting Wednesday that left him and his two daughters dead.

Parker, 37, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound shortly after noon Thursday. He is suspected of shooting to death his daughters Mackenzie Parker, 8, and Haylee Parker, 5, before turning the gun on himself, the Pima County Sheriff's Department said in a news release.

In a previous story the Star reported Mackenzie Parker was 7 years old.

http://tucson.com/news/blogs/police-beat/sheriff-father-in-foothills-shooting-dies-victims-id-d/article_03aa7888-a9ed-11e5-85a3-dbd1eba94a48.html

[doc03]

27. If only the daughters were armed n/t