The shooting deaths of two people near Mooresville last month have officially been ruled a murder-suicide.
Capt. Darren Campbell of the Iredell County Sheriff's Office said detectives were recently able to talk to the two family members who survived the shooting, Christian Edward Thomas, 25, and Douglas Alan Thomas Jr., 28, in the hospital.
"In talking with the two sons, their story is consistent with the evidence at the scene," Campbell said.
That evidence indicated Douglas Alan Thomas Sr., 57, shot one of his two sons in the living room of his Peninsula Drive home, and then shot his second son as he walks in a hallway, Campbell said.
Then Thomas Sr. shot his wife, Linda, 57, and finally turned the gun on himself.
Campbell said authorities are still not sure what prompted the shooting.
He said the sons indicated their father's behavior had changed within a week of the Oct. 11 shooting, but nothing of a violent nature emerged.
Thomas Sr. had been laid off from his job at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in August, Campbell said.
The shootings happened on the morning of Oct. 11 when one of the two sons called 911 on a cell phone and said his father had shot him.
Deputies arrived on the scene, and after hearing cries for help from inside, forced their way inside.
They found Thomas Sr. dead in a bedroom and Linda Thomas dead in the hallway.
A handgun was recovered from inside the residence.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement