Pinelands mother shot her 3 kids and herself, police say
TABERNACLE, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey authorities say a woman shot all three of her children, killing two, before turning the gun on herself in a murder-suicide attempt.
State police, who outlined the new details late Friday afternoon, say 44-year-old Jeannine LePage kept others in the house from hearing the gunshots by muffling them with a pillow.
Police say 14-year-old Nicholas Harriman and his 8-year-old sister, Nadia, were killed. The mother and 11-year-old Alexander Harriman are in critical condition.
Authorities said Thursday there were nine related people in the house at the time of the shootings, sometime between late Wednesday night and about 9 a.m. Thursday, when another resident of the home called 911.
The three children were found in their home with LePage, who had a single gunshot wound to her head. All four were in a bed in an upstairs bedroom, police said.
Lt. Stephen Jones, left, and Capt. Geoff Noble, right, hold press conference on the shootings in Tabernacle Township, NJ Thursday. (Dino Flammia, Townsquare Media)[/caption]
The Burlington County community is located in the sparsely populated New Jersey Pinelands, about 30 miles east of Philadelphia.
Neighbors said they didn't know the residents in the house and didn't hear any commotion Thursday morning until troopers arrived and helicopters began hovering overhead.
It's very quiet, peaceful. You can hear a pin drop," said Mike Watson, who has lived in the neighborhood for 25 years.
Jeanette Salvatore, who lives two doors down from the deadly shooting, said her grandchildren played "very frequently" with the young victims.
"We didn't know the parents well at all," she said. "We met them, but we don't really know them."
Noting the incident was most likely an isolated one, Salvatore said she'll go about her normal routine.
"It's not any person walking around, shooting people," she said.
Nearby resident Joan Doyle echoed the perception of safety within her neighborhood.
"It doesn't change my schedule at all," she said. "I'd like to be able to walk my dog like I always do."
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