A 21-year-old man fatally shot his mother and teenage sister in their apartment near Phoenix on Monday night, police said.
The unidentified college-age suspect opened fire around 7:30 p.m. at the apartment in the east suburb of Mesa.
He fatally shot his 46-year-old mother in one room before walking into a different room and killing his 14-year-old sister, according to investigators. The young man then entered a third room and turned the gun on himself.
Neither the victims nor the suspect have been publicly identified as police work to notify other family members.
Cops first responded to the apartment complex after the adult woman’s boyfriend returned home to find the horrific scene and dialed 911.
Investigators have not publicly speculated on a motive for the bloodshed.
Monday night’s incident was the third time in the past five months that a Phoenix-area man has killed his family before taking his own life.
Two weeks ago, on March 21, three people were found dead in a south Phoenix home. Investigators determined Jacob De Zeeuw, 27, fatally shot his 37-year-old girlfriend, Sarah Scott, and his 6-year-old son, Jacob De Zeeuw Jr. Scott was also four months pregnant with the couple’s child.
In November, Jasen Hudgens, 44, killed his 40-year-old wife, Marla, and their three young children in their Phoenix home, according to police. Hudgens stabbed his wife and children to death before taking his own life with a gunshot, police said.