Man Guns Down Wife, Baby and Child in Murder-Suicide: Police

An Ohio mother and her two young children were fatally shot in an apparent murder-suicide by the woman’s husband, who had been previously arrested, accused of domestic violence, local police said.

Around 10 a.m. Sunday, officers were responding to a call about dogs running loose outside a residence on East 9th Street in Lorain, Ohio. When they went inside the second-floor apartment, they discovered the bodies of 29-year-old Tyler Young, his wife Skylar Young, 24, their 4-month-old son, Bandin Young, and Skylar’s 9-year-old daughter, Angel Issac, according to the Lorain Police Department (LPD).

Investigators believe that Tyler Young fatally shot his wife and the two children before killing himself, sometime from 1 a.m. to 10 a.m., LPD Lieutenant Jacob Morris said during a press conference on Monday.

Morris said investigators believe the incident was a murder-suicide, saying that Tyler Young was found dead of a gunshot wound to the head, and next to his body, investigators discovered a 9-millimeter firearm they believe was used in the killings. Two other firearms were found in the home, the lieutenant said.

“The shooting is still under investigation, and we have no final ruling, but we are not looking for any other suspects,” Morris said.

Police tape blocks off a crime scene. An Ohio man fatally shot his wife, 4-month-old son and 9-year-old stepdaughter before turning the gun on himself, local police said.
Andri Tambunan / AFP/Getty

Newsweek reached out via email on Monday to the LPD for comment.

Tyler Young had been previously arrested on charges of domestic violence and strangulation in May, Morris said. During that incident, Skylar Young told police, she was physically and verbally abused, saying that she had been threatened and “slapped and choked” by her husband while she was 26 weeks pregnant with Bandin at the time, Morris said. However, the wife recanted her statement to police in June.

That case was presented to a Lorain County grand jury, which chose not to indict Tyler Young on any charges relating to the May incident.

While a family member told investigators that Tyler Young was having a “schizophrenic episode” when the May altercation occurred, according to a police report, Morris said it’s unclear whether he had been officially diagnosed with a mental illness.

Morris said that investigators did not have a suspected motive for the fatal shooting, but they believed Tyler Young’s mental issues could have played a role in the incident.

Skylar Young was the biological mother to both children, Morris said, noting that Tyler Young was the biological father to 4-month-old Bandin, but not to Angel, who attended the Horizon Science Academy, a charter school in Lorain, according to the LPD.

Newsweek reached out via email Monday night to Horizon Science Academy for comment.