Police concluded that four people found shot and killed in an Ohio home were victims of a murder-suicide incident just moments before the family was to be evicted.
Another shooting victim survived but was hospitalized with serious injuries.
The harrowing incident unfolded at about 9:30 on Monday morning when police were sent to the home in Ohio Township in Clermont County to enforce an eviction order.
Sheriff Steve Leahy told reporters Thursday that Theresa Cain had been very cooperative with police about the eviction before Monday. Cain told police the family needed a few hours to move out but assured them they would be out of the home by 10 a.m.
However, when police pulled up to the home, Cain rushed inside after seeing them from the home’s porch.
A deputy knocked on the doors but received no response. Then they heard from inside someone saying, “No, no, no, no,” and a succession of gunshots.
When police were able to safely enter the home, they discovered the bodies of Cain, her 13-year-old son Ethan Cain, her 50-year-old husband Steven Cain, and her 74-year-old father William Felton, who lived with them. They all died from gunshot wounds.
They also found her 20-year-old daughter critically injured. She was hospitalized in critical but stable condition at UC Medical Center. Doctors believe she will recover from her injuries.
Leahy said there were many unanswered questions about the tragedy.
“It is tragic and unnecessary. What can we do to keep this from happening again? Well, I’m just not that sure that we can. When people are in crisis, it’s not as easy as just reaching out and saying, ‘I need help.’ They are spiraling. Nothing makes sense,” Leahy said.
The family had moved to the home in 2015, but it went into foreclosure in May 2022.
“What we see here, you can’t make sense of this,” Leahy continued. “Murder is a senseless thing but then you throw in suicide and the homicide of your family. It’s all very sad.”
Students at New Richmond Middle School were traumatized to hear of the death of their schoolmate.
“A wonderful, wonderful kid,” said New Richmond Superintendent Tracey Miller of Ethan Crain. “Teachers and staff members were in tears today just a bright, young life has been extinguished like this.”
A family friend opened a GoFundMe campaign to help Samantha Cain with medical costs and for burial of her family members.
Housing expenses in the U.S. skyrocketed during the pandemic as people were forced to stay indoors, and some decided to move away from cities to more affordable regions of the country.
Here’s more about the horrendous incident:
Sheriff: Mother believed to be shooter in murder-suicide that left 4 dead in Clermont Countywww.youtube.com
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