US: Michigan Man kills wife, six-year-old daughter before turning gun on himself

US: Michigan Man kills wife, six-year-old daughter before turning gun on himself
US: Michigan Man kills wife, six-year-old daughter before turning gun on himselfUS: Michigan Man kills wife, six-year-old daughter before turning gun on himself

A Michigan father allegedly shot dead his wife and six-year-old daughter before turning the gun on himself as the couple’s three other children fled from their family home.

Henry Bates, 39, his wife Brianna, 31, and their daughter, Zenzia – who was nicknamed “Boo” – were found dead from apparent gunshot wounds in their family’s apartment late Tuesday in Portage, located about 60 miles south of Grand Rapids.

“Sad day. Sad, sad day,” said Portage Department of Public Safety Director Nicholas Armold after spending nearly 12 hours at the crime scene trying to parse together what had motivated the brutal shooting spree. “Horrible night. Horrible week.”

Portage police responded to a call from neighbours in the residential area about reported gunshots and a barricaded gunman at approximately 9.20pm.

The responding officers eventually called in assistance from the nearby Kalamazoo Metro SWAT team to assist in what they thought would be a negotiation with an armed gunman. For two hours, negotiators attempted to make contact with the family members inside, but it remained “totally silent” from the moment they arrived until they left the next morning.

“We were trying to see if we could get in there and rescue whoever was in there,” Mr Armold said, according to Wood TV. “But unfortunately we were too late for that.”

Upon entering the small apartment, the negotiators found the father, Ms Bates and their six-year-old daughter dead.

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