Man, sons died in murder-suicide before Wake County house fire, autopsy reveals
WAKE COUNTY, N.C. (WTVD) -- An autopsy report shows a southern Wake County father and his two sons found dead after a house fire died in a murder-suicide.
Shannon Collins, 49, and his two sons, 13-year-old Jet and 15-year-old River, were found dead in their Rand Road home near Garner on June 24.
An autopsy report for River showed that he was shot by his father while sleeping in his bed.
Jet was also shot, and then Collins apparently shot himself.
The house was set on fire at some point.
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Documents also show that Collins and his wife were going through a divorce at the time.
The night of the shooting, she went to stay with a relative, and then was involuntarily committed to a hospital, where she only spent a few hours.
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She was at the Wake County Courthouse when the 911 calls started to come in about the fire at her home.
Two cats also died in the fire.
