Murder-Suicide in Wayne Orphans 3 Children
Peaceful Main Line town is jolted by violence
A QUIET RESIDENTIAL street in the affluent Main Line hamlet of Wayne was jolted yesterday afternoon by an apparent murder-suicide that orphaned three children.
"At 2:20 p.m., we received a report of a shooting at 319 S. Wayne Ave., and later discovered that the person who made the call was actually the same person who committed the shooting," said Radnor Township Police Chief William Colarulo.
"This was a couple in their 40s," Colarulo said. "The female was shot at least twice. The male suffered one gunshot wound that appears to be self-inflicted. The weapon was a .357 Magnum."
Colarulo said the shooting happened at a guesthouse not attached to the couple's home. He said an 8-year-old son was in a bedroom of the main house at the time of the shooting, and was not aware it had occurred.
The couple's 17-year-old daughter was not at home. Another daughter, 15, was away at boarding school in Minnesota.
"This is a tragic situation for everyone involved, especially for those children," Colarulo said.
He said police, who did not release the couple's identity last night, believe the shooting was related to a domestic dispute because the shooter "left documents out for his children to find."
Colarulo said: "This is an open-and-shut case as far as we're concerned. Now the real tragedy starts because you have three children who have no parents."
He said that "neighbors have stepped up to the plate" to take care of the children.
"In the three years I've been here," Colarulo said, "this is the most horrific and the most tragic incident I've seen. When people have family or emotional problems, it reaches across all boundaries. No one is shielded."