Herndon shaken as Peterson family found dead in Virginia home
Albert Peterson, his wife Kathleen and their two sons, Matthew and Chris were all found dead in their Herndon, Virginia home on Tuesday, sources report to The Global Dispatch.
UPDATE: The police have confirmed the murder suicide with initial medical examiner report, more here
Police were making a welfare call after neighbors and co-workers of the parents authorities they had not seen the children going to school or the parents going to work recently.
Based on the facts reported to the Dispatch, Albert Peterson shot his wife and children while they were still in bed and then committed suicide. Police have yet to confirm these details.
Neighbor Alvaro Lopes spoke highly of Peterson family to the local CBS affiliate, but noted that Albert had tried to commit suicide previously and that the man’s heart attack medication seemed to change his personality.
“He seemed dizzy… just different,” Lopes said. “Hearing about what happened today made me think that could have something to do with it.”
“They were good people,” said Lopes. “Very quiet [and] would hang out in their front yard and do some barbecues.”
Fairfax County police spokeswoman Lucy Caldwell would not discuss whether the case was a murder-suicide, but said that homicide detectives are investigating and that there is no public safety threat.
WTOP spoke to a nearby neighbor, Jeremy Wilcox, who “said the family had been at a community picnic Sunday and showed no signs of any problem. He said the father would frequently be on his front porch waving to cars as they passed by, and that he sometimes stuck a plow on the front of his truck to clear a path for neighborhood cars when there was a snowstorm.”
Matthew was a sophomore at Westfield high school student and the other boy, Chris was an eighth grader Rachel Carson Middle School.
[…] Daily Mail and a couple of other sources are reporting details that Albert Peterson’s assassination of his family and suicide may have been a relapse into depression following disdain for President […]
I went to school with chris. I came to school not knowing him, but now I feel like I’ve known him for years
[…] told the Global Dispatch it appeared as if Mr Peterson had shot his wife and sons as they were still in bed and then killed […]
[…] told the Global Dispatch it appeared as if Mr Peterson had shot his wife and sons as they were still in bed and then killed […]
Our thoughts and prayers are with these kids, the family and friends of the Petersons
God bless this family…and i wish they could see how much people are showing their support and love and praying for him on facebook we love you chris and hope that the police find out the real truth im preaying for you and so is everyone else even the people that dont know you
I went to school with him since middle school. I would see Matthew’s face everyday. Im just broken.