An American kills 7 members of his family and then commits suicide

A forty-two-year-old man, in the western United States, killed his five children, his wife, and his mother-in-law with a firearm, then committed suicide, two weeks after his wife filed for divorce, according to local authorities.

Initial investigations showed that "the suspect committed suicide after killing seven other people at home," according to a statement from the municipality of Enoch City, Utah, where the tragedy occurred.

The police found the eight bodies, last Wednesday, and they all bore signs of “gunshot wounds,” according to the statement.

Five of the bodies belonged to his sons, whose ages ranged from 4 to 17 years.

Suspect Michael Height also killed his wife of 40 and mother-in-law of 78, before shooting himself.

And the mayor of Enoch, Jeffrey Chesnutt, who is a neighbor of the family, said in a press conference that the mother, Tosha Height, had filed for “a request for divorce (...) on December 21.”

And the White House stated that President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, are grieving “with the people of Enoch City.”

And White House spokeswoman Karen Jean-Pierre added, in a statement, that "many Americans have lost loved ones, or their lives have been turned upside down, because of armed violence."

The “Fan Violence Archive” website indicated that the United States witnessed 648 mass murders (meaning the number of victims, including four dead or injured, or more) in 2022, while 11 crimes of this kind were recorded in the first five days of the year.

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