Authorities in Alaska said that an 18-year-old suspect had gunned down four of his family members including two children early Monday morning.
Reports of a shooting led police to a Wasilla home at around 3 a.m. where they came upon an agonizing 18-year-old victim, identified as Cody Roehl, who was dead when he arrived at the hospital.
A half-an-hour later, officers responded to another shooting at a Palmer home. There, they discovered a woman and her two children dead from gunshot wounds.
The victims were the gunman’s aunt, 43-year-old Kimora Buster, and his cousins, ages 7 and 10, who were Roehl’s siblings.
The suspected shooter was identified as Malachi Maxon, 18. He has stolen his teen cousin’s Jeep after shooting him to drive to his family’s Palmer residence and perpetrate the three other slayings.
Maxon was on electronic monitoring following domestic violence charges. He now faces first-degree murder, attempted murder, and eluding police.
The motive behind Maxon’s acts remains undetermined though authorities said that he spent some time with Roehl, without reported arguments, in the hours preceding the rampage.
