Approximately two weeks after his wife filed for divorce, Michael Haight, 42, fatally murdered seven family members before shooting himself in the head in the family’s Enoch City home, according to authorities.
The Police had “been involved in some investigations with the family a couple of years earlier,” Enoch City Police Chief Jackson Ames stated at the press conference. He replied that we were acquainted with the family without going into further detail.
He claimed that the House had not lately had the Police called. The authorities did not disclose the sort of weapon Mr. Haight had used in the killings.
About two weeks after his wife requested a divorce, Michael Haight, 42, allegedly shot seven family members to death before turning the gun on himself in the family’s Enoch City home.
Why Did Michael Haight, Utah Father Kill Children, Wife And Mother-In-Law
Officials said Thursday that a 42-year-old man shot and killed himself after killing his wife, his five children, and his mother-in-law inside their House in rural Utah this week.
According to authorities, the evidence points to Michael Haight’s murder of the other seven family members before he committed himself inside the family’s Enoch City, approximately 250 miles southwest of Salt Lake City, home.
After Mr. Haight’s wife, Tausha Haight, 40, missed an appointment with someone who then alerted the Police, all eight deaths were found on Wednesday, according to authorities.
The mayor of Enoch City, Geoffrey Chesnut, stated at a news conference on Thursday that Ms. Haight had filed for divorce from Mr. Haight on December 21 and that her mother, Gail Earl, 78, who was also deceased, had been “giving assistance through the challenges that they were having.”
A 17-year-old girl, a 12-year-old girl, a 7-year-old girl, a 7-year-old boy, and a 4-year-old boy were among the five kids that died; their names were not released.
Mr. Chesnut, who described the shock and destruction of Enoch City, which has around 8,000 residents, talked while crying.
He claimed that the Heights and his family had shared a neighboring home and that their youngest children had played in his yard with his kids.
Peoples’ Reaction To The Murder
Neighbors described Enoch City as a close-knit neighborhood with lots of kids where houses hardly ever go on the market.
Children frequently play in the area where the Police discovered the victims, and nearby residents wave hello and offer to shovel snow for one another.
The city manager, Rob Dotson, also broke down in tears during the press conference and said that the entire town was feeling the same way.
We have no idea why this occurred, he said. “It’s unlikely that anyone will ever know what was going through these people’s heads.
We do, however, know that we loved them and that they were our friends and neighbors.
The five kids were all students at the Iron County School District in Cedar City, Utah, according to a statement on its website on Wednesday.
According to a district official, the district had sent out counselors and therapists to help pupils deal with the fatalities, who also noted that “quite a few” children were absent from class on Thursday due to the community’s grief.
After hearing of the shooting, Richard Jensen, a local councilman, said in an interview on Wednesday that he had cried intermittently throughout the night.
He claimed he managed to gather himself to explain what had happened to his 11-year-old kid so that he would not have to learn about it in school.
This shocked everyone, according to Mr. Jensen, who described the victim as a respected religious and community Leader.
Enoch City resident Aaron Diamond claimed that because the victims shared his church, he knew them personally. Home