A 40-year-old man and his 9-year-old son were found dead in a Mansfield, Ohio, home in what police are calling a possible murder-suicide.
Officers with the Mansfield Police Department (MPD) responded around noon on Saturday, Nov. 29, after receiving a report of “two individuals with gunshot wounds,” according to a news release from the department. Inside the residence, they found the father and son.
The child was transported to OhioHealth Mansfield Hospital, where he later died from his injuries, police said. The father was pronounced dead at the scene.
In the release, authorities described the incident as a “possible” murder-suicide. “While the circumstances appear to be a murder-suicide, detectives from the Mansfield Division of Police, along with the Richland County Coroner’s Office, continue to investigate,” the statement said. “Out of respect for the family, the names of the individuals are not being released at this time.”
The Mansfield Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Sunday, Nov. 30.
According to Cleveland 19 News, the father’s girlfriend was also inside the home at the time of the shooting but did not appear to be physically injured. Neighbors told the outlet she seemed to be in shock.
Frances Gray, a nearby resident and friend of the family, said she tried to speak with the girlfriend after the incident. “I was asking her what happened, what’s going on, and she was probably in shock or whatever,” Gray told the station.
“She was like, ‘I don’t know.’ She just heard a pop,” Gray added. “And she was upstairs is all she kept on saying.”
Gray and her husband, Shawn McArdle, said they were struggling to accept that the deaths might have been the result of a murder–suicide, noting how devoted the father appeared to be to his son.
Gray described him as “an amazing guy” who “loved his son,” adding that he was also “a good friend” and “good landlord” who “gave people chances that didn’t need chances.”
“We can’t see him doing any harm to his son because his son meant everything to him,” she said.
McArdle echoed those feelings. “I don’t believe it at all to save my soul,” he told the outlet. “He would never harm his own child at all whatsoever.”
