Mother-of-three shoots terminally ill husband and two children in murder-suicide - but spares three-year-old son
A mother-of-three opened fire on her terminally ill husband and two of their children, killing all three before turning the gun on herself in a murder-suicide, police say.
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Emily Long, 34, was found dead with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head on Monday.
Her husband, Ryan Long, 48, who was understood to be fighting an aggressive form of brain cancer, was discovered lifeless after suffering multiple gunshot wounds.
In the same house, their two children, Parker, 8, and Ryan, 6, were both found dead from single gunshots to the head, according to autopsy results.
New Hampshire State Police were called shortly after 8:20 pm on Monday to the home in the area, where they found the three bodies.
However, the couple’s three-year-old child seemingly survived and was found unscathed inside the home.
The boy appeared to have stayed alone in the house hours after the incident.
Police say Emily Long used a handgun to open fire on her family. New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella said the mother “took her own life immediately thereafter.”
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Long had spoken about feeling “lonely” and “anxious” days before the attack, revealing she was going to a therapist on her TikTok account which has since been made private.
She had more than 170,0000 followers on her account where she kept a “digital diary” of her life.
The self-proclaimed “Brain Cancer Wife” talked openly about her husband’s treatment for glioblastoma, detailing his seizures and battle to find medication that worked for him.
“I know that I need to see a therapist, I know that I need to ask for help,” she said in one clip.
In the same video, she said she felt as if she was “withering away,” according to the Daily Mail.
In the last video she posted, she said the family was "definitely struggling" with her husband’s illness but she remained determined to work on her mental health.
"All I want to do is hide under a blanket with my kids, but that isn't healthy for them and it's not healthy for me.
"Today I decided I need to make a conscious effort to shift my mindset. I'm getting out of this depression whether I want to or not. I am determined to create normalcy."
"I am determined to create normalcy. I'm trying to get myself out of the rut, our kids are definitely struggling, and now I'm starting to notice some changes in our 3-year-old,” she said.