A Texas man fatally shot his twin 12-year-old daughters before turning the gun on himself while police officers surrounded his home, local authorities confirmed Thursday.
Larry Thompson, 48, barricaded himself inside his Frost residence on Feb. 9, according to the Navarro County sheriff’s office.
When officers finally entered the home, Thompson and his two daughters were dead. The girls were identified as Heaven and Nevaeh Sadler in a GoFundMe.
On Feb. 8, the night before the incident, Thompson’s wife left the home and took her children from a different relationship with her after the couple had an argument, police said.
She returned to the house the next morning without the kids, but left immediately after hearing a gunshot, according to the county sheriff. That’s when she called the cops.
Navarro County sheriff’s deputies responded to the home in Frost, a tiny town of just over 600 people about 50 miles south of Dallas.
At the time, Thompson’s mother was inside the home trying to calm her son down. Minutes after she safely exited, the cops outside heard two gunshots.
Officers decided to treat the scene as a hostage situation, the Navarro County sheriff’s office said. However, they received no communication from inside.
After “numerous attempts” to make contact, a SWAT team stormed the home to find Thompson and his daughters dead.
Texas Rangers confirmed the sheriff’s account on Thursday.
“To receive two body bags, it’s not right,” the girls’ mother, April Sadler, told Dallas ABC affiliate WFAA.
Sadler, who no longer lived with Thompson and the children, added, “They were some good kids.”
