THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 27, 1996 TAG: 9610270375
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE STONE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NEWPORT NEWS LENGTH: 46 lines
A 9-year-old girl was struggling to survive late Saturday, the lone survivor of a family of four after her father shot and killed her younger sister, her mother and himself, police said.
The murder-suicide shocked residents of the Lee Hall neighborhood. But some said the family had been having domestic problems, and police confirmed that officers had been called to the home in the 600 block of Chelsea Place earlier this month for a domestic dispute.
Police identified the dead as Faustino Antonio Vasquez, 41; his wife, Diane Vasquez, 34; and their daughter, Megan, 7.
Melissa Vasquez, 9, was in surgery at Riverside Regional Medical Center. She had been shot at least once. Her condition was not known late Saturday.
Police spokesman Bobby Kipper gave this scenario to Saturday night's incident:
About 6:30 p.m., police dispatchers received a call from a man who said he had just shot his wife. Officers and rescue units were sent to the address, a townhouse.
No one would come to the door when officers arrived, but the door was not locked. Police entered.
Downstairs, they found the two sisters. Upstairs, they found the adults. All had been shot at least once. The weapon was recovered.
The parents were pronounced dead at the scene. Megan Vasquez was pronounced dead shortly after arrival at Mary Immaculate Hospital.
``It does appear that his injuries were the result of a self-inflicted gunshot,'' Kipper said of Faustino Vasquez's injuries. ``That leads us to believe this is a murder-suicide. We believe Mr. Vasquez fired the weapon on his family before turning the weapon on himself.''
Kipper said investigator found no evidence of a struggle, and ``we didn't see any sign of anyone trying to get away.''
Kipper said there was no immediate sign of a suicide note or anything to explain what prompted the bloodshed. But investigators were still on the scene early today.
``We had responded several weeks ago to a domestic situation at this address,'' Kipper said. ``One of the officers present tonight was one of the officers who had responded to that earlier incident.''
Kipper said there are relatives in the area to care for the surviving girl.
KEYWORDS: MURDER SUICIDE SHOOTING
INJURIES by CNB