A 15-year-old boy shot and killed three siblings at a home near Fairbanks, Alaska, and was found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities announced Wednesday.
Alaska State Troopers in a statement said they received a report of shots fired at a Fairbanks home Tuesday afternoon. The report came from a neighbor, police spokesman Tim DeSpain said.
Troopers found four children dead from apparent gunshot wounds. The children’s parents were not home when the shooting occurred, officers said.
DeSpain said the children who died were 5, 8, 17 and 15 years old.
Officers said their investigation shows a 15-year-old boy shot three brothers and then shot himself. DeSpain said the question of motive is part of the investigation.
The bodies were being sent to the state medical examiner’s office.
Three other children were in the home and were not injured, according to the release. DeSpain said the children who were not injured are all under the age of 7. He said all the children were brothers.
DeSpain said the gun was a “family gun, but beyond that, everything remains part of the ongoing investigation.” He could not say whether the 15-year-old had had any previous interactions with law enforcement, and said that would be part of the investigation.
Officials said the state Office of Children’s Services had been notified. A spokesman for the state Department of Family and Community Services had no immediate comment.
Fairbanks is located in central Alaska, about 360 miles north of Anchorage.