A chilling 911 call has revealed how police saw a family’s Montana home go up in flames before eight people, including multiple children, were found ᴅᴇᴀᴅ inside.
A chilling 911 call has revealed how police saw a family’s Montana home go up in flames before eight people, including multiple children, were found ᴅᴇᴀᴅ inside.
Police descended on a Billings home Sunday evening after receiving reports of ‘sH๏τs being fired’ and a ‘child unconscious,’ according to Yellowstone County dispatch audio obtained by the New York Post.
‘We have a situation going on with sH๏τs being fired,’ the dispatcher said, adding: ‘There is also going to be an unconscious child inside of the home.’
The dispatcher could not confirm if the child had been sH๏τ or was still breathing, but doubled down on the report that they were unconscious.
She told responding officers that a fire engine was ‘staged in the area’ and that ‘another engine’ had already been requested.
Police received reports of the active shooting at 6.01pm, with officers arriving on scene just 10 minutes later to find the residence already ‘fully engulfed’ in flames, Billings police said.
The suspect was taken to a nearby hospital with a self-inflicted gunsH๏τ wound to the head and later died, ᴀssistant Billings Police Chief Shawn Mayo said during a Monday press conference.
Megan Ghekiere, 39, and her stepchildren, Landon and Charlotte Ghekiere, aged 15 and 12, were killed in the mᴀssacre at their family home.
Megan Ghekiere, 39, was killed in a shooting and fire at her Billings, Montana home on Sunday evening
The 39-year-old’s stepchildren Landon and Charlotte Ghekiere, aged 15 and 12, were among the eight family members killed in the incident
The house in Billings, Montana , was then set on fire – trapping some of the family inside as it burned to the ground
The victims’ names have not yet been released by police, but the trio were identified by family in two separate GoFundMe campaigns.
The five other victims are understood to be members of the same family.
Megan’s husband Adam Ghekiere, his children’s mother Erica Jarussi Schneider and her husband Danny were not at the scene.
Interim Yellowstone County Sheriff Kent O’Donnell said gunsH๏τs were heard in the background of a 911 call and the house was set alight within three minutes.
When officers arrived on the cul-de-sac, they heard gunfire coming from the Ghekiere family home, which was on fire.
Footage captured at the scene showed a large cloud of dark gray smoke billowing in the sky as the blaze ripped through the home.
Police say the suspected shooter was spotted outside in the back of the burning house, before further gunsH๏τs erupted.
The gunman’s connection to the family remains unclear.
Adam Ghekiere with his family including his son, right, and older daughter, forward right, who died. He was not home at the time of the ᴅᴇᴀᴅly mᴀssacre
Megan Ghekiere, seen with her two children from a previous marriage, was confirmed ᴅᴇᴀᴅ in a GoFundMe campaign established to support Adam
Large clouds of smoke towered over the home on Sunday as flames ripped through
O’Donnell said that the fire damage and water used to extinguish the blaze are expected to slow the investigation as crews recovered evidence.
Billings Fire Department Chief Matt Hoppel said responding firefighters were hampered by there not being any fire hydrants in the area.
‘The delay and limited access presented significant challenges. Fire conditions continued to worsen, and the residence ultimately became heavily involved and was consumed by fire,’ he said.
The events leading up to the shooting and how the house was set on fire are being investigated by the Yellowstone County Sheriff’s Office and other agencies.
Detectives are currently on site processing the crime scene and collecting evidence, the sheriff’s office told the Daily Mail on Tuesday.
Further details are expected to be released on Wednesday, officials said.
The two children were mourned online by family and friends of their parents.
‘Landon was just 15 years old and preparing to begin his sophomore year at Senior High School,’ they wrote on an online fundraiser.
Aerial pH๏τographs taken after the blaze was extinguished on Sunday show that very little remains of the residence
Officials said responding firefighters were hampered by a lack of fire hydrants in the area
Landon and Charlotte with their parents in a pH๏τo shared by other family members
‘He was a loving, caring young man who was always willing to lend a hand to his family and neighbors.
‘He was looking forward to getting his driver’s license this week and was a patient, protective, and loving big brother.’
Charlotte was just about to start seventh grade when she was killed alongside her brother.
‘Funny, precocious, and adorable – with just the right amount of stubborn – Charlotte had an angelic smile and loved posing for pictures,’ the fundraiser shared.
‘She especially loved exploring the world around her, turning over rocks to look for bugs. Oh, how she loved her bugs!’
Ghekiere is an Airport Rescue Firefighter and was not involved in the shooting, family said.
SOURCE: https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16079261/montana-family-shooting-fire-billings-911-call.html
