A New Hampshire mother fatally shot her husband, who was battling cancer, along with their two young children before taking her own life, state prosecutors confirmed. Authorities are treating the case as a murder-suicide.
Emily Long, 34, carried out the killings early Monday inside the family’s home on Moharimet Drive in Madbury, according to the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office. Just two days earlier, she had spoken online about her struggles with depression.
Police responded shortly before 8:30 p.m. after a 911 call reported multiple people dead inside the home.
Inside, troopers found Emily and her husband, Ryan Long, 48, as well as their children Parker, 8, and Ryan, 6. A toddler was also found in the home unharmed.
“Each of the deceased family members appears to have suffered gunshot wounds and were pronounced dead at the scene,” the attorney general’s office said in a statement. “Detectives continue to investigate this event as a potential murder/suicide.”
Autopsies performed Wednesday determined that Emily used a handgun from the home in the early hours of Monday morning. Ryan died from multiple gunshot wounds, while Parker died from a single gunshot wound to the head. Both deaths were ruled homicides.
The tragedy came only days after Emily posted a video on social media, where she spoke about feeling “really depressed” and admitted her children were “definitely struggling” as her husband’s health declined.
Assistant Attorney General Ben Agati said investigators are working to determine a motive.
“And I think that’s probably one of the more difficult things that they are trying to grasp, to understand how this came to be,” Agati told WCAX.
Officials urged the public not to speculate.
“While investigators are becoming aware of various concerns/issues ongoing in the household at the time of the event in question, people should avoid speculating that this event was caused by a single reason or stressor,” the statement said.
Ryan, a school psychologist at Oyster River Middle School in Durham, had reportedly been diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer, according to the New York Post.
Emily, who worked as director of operations at a New Hampshire restaurant chain, shared on TikTok that she was trying to create stability at home. “I have been struggling so much and really depressed and have really become reclusive and just wanted to be with my kids and my husband,” she said, adding she was determined to make a change.
Authorities confirmed there is no ongoing threat to the public and said updates would come only after the investigation is complete.
Neighbors described the Longs as a close-knit family who seemed happy.
“It was shocking,” neighbor Bevy Ketel told WBZ-TV. “It was a perfect family, as far as we knew. It’s so sad to think that that little girl is gone.”
Ryan was remembered as a central figure in the community. “He certainly touched a lot of lives. He was part of the fabric of the community, and his family went along with it,” Ketel said.
She recalled the children recently setting up a lemonade stand for neighbors. “It’s just shocking. We didn’t see it coming,” she added.
