There were scenes of utter despair on a quiet suburban street after a father shot dead his twin 10-year-old sons before fatally shooting himself, police say. Police in Los Angeles were called to the scene in Canoga Park, about 25 minutes out of Los Angeles, in the San Fernando Valley just at 7.15pm on Sunday (June 7) amid reports of gunfire. It was there, in an apartment on Owensmouth Avenue, that they found the bodies of a man and two boys, now confirmed to be twin 10-year-olds Joseph and Greysen Chavez. As per the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), the twins were fatally shot by a man police say is believed to be their father. The man, 37, is yet to have his identity formally revealed until next of kin is notified.
View 3 ImagesThe apartment at which the horrific events unfolded(Image: KTLA)
What we know so far is that the suspected murder-suicide happened at a grandmother’s birthday party, as per local news agency KTLA. The mother of the two children has survived after their father shot at his wife and missed, but is understood to have then turned the gun on himself on Sunday, police say. A statement from the LAPD added that the horrific incident is being investigated as a murder-suicide. Footage from the scene on Sunday showed a family in morning. Heartbroken family members could be seen wailing, while others simply stood in silence, trying to process what happened. One woman was seen exiting an ambulance before crumbling to the ground in tears. While many of the people at the scene knew the family, strangers also showed up to pay their respects, with the tragedy striking a chord across the family-oriented community. An unnamed woman at the scene told ABC7: “That’s just really sad. Two little kids and a dad. That’s a family. Nobody deserved that.”
View 3 ImagesShocked and grieving family members were seen outside the complex(Image: AP)
“I felt like, even though we might not see their family, we thought that they needed some prayer and some thought, because like, I don’t know, I know me personally, whether I know them or not, I would want to pray for someone’s healing and just overall as a person, because that’s really sad, and I don’t wish that upon anybody.” Another local, CC Pelkey, told KTLA: ‘My heart is breaking for this family because this is tragic. This should never happen to anybody. “The kids never had a chance to have a life, and I don’t know why the father, if he did have issues, couldn’t have gotten help. Why? To take his children’s lives and his own life. It’s just, there are no words right now.” A neighbour told KTLA that she had spoken with the family earlier that day. “They were super nice. The sweetest boys ever,” the neighbour said. “I really didn’t believe it until I saw them take out the bodies.”
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A handgun was found at the scene along with the three bodies in a bedroom of the apartment, police have confirmed, with the LAPD Robbery-Homicide Division now investigating.