Five people were killed in a small town of Emington, Ill. in what police say was a gruesome murder-suicide.
The bodies of Daniel Warren, 29, Sara McMeen, 30 and her three children Skyler Lemke, 8, Ian Lemke 7 and Maggie Warren, 10 months, were found at the scene on Friday afternoon after someone called police to report they heard shots fired, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Warren and Sara McMeen were in a relationship and lived together, police said.
Neighbors said they saw the two adults — who were in a relationship — arguing in the front yard before the deaths, but investigators wouldn’t say who they thought fired the weapon, the AP reported.
But Annelisa Fiddler, a neighbor, told the AP that she saw Sara McMeen hovering over her baby in the backyard
and asked her if everything was alright.
McMeen, according to Fiddler, answered “No, everything is not alright,” and fired a single shot at the infant.
Brad Lemke, the father of two of Sara McMeen’s children told the AP he saw his children often — and that they were “great kids”.
“They loved everyone and treated everyone like nobody else,” he said. “They never had any trouble showing their love.”
The town’s sheriff, who is in his first year at the post, called it “very gut-wrenching.”
Ronald Groetsema, who lives near the family said his son had just gotten off the school bus with some of the younger victims.
“They were happy because it was the last day of school before Christmas break,” he said.
Emington is a small farming town with about 100 residents.
With News Wire Services
