Tragedy: North Carolina Father Kills Wife, Three Children in Murder-Suicide Attack

A husband and father has killed his wife, kids, and himself in a gruesome murder-suicide attack.

On Monday, police identified the man behind the murder-suicide as Robert J. Crayton, 45, a father and husband who fatally shot and killed his wife, three children, and himself on Saturday at their home in the 2700 block of Mossy Meadow Drive, High Point, the Charlotte Observer reported.

Athalia A. Crayton, 46, and Kasin Crayton, 18, were fatally shot. The other victims were 16 and 10-year-old minors whose names weren’t released. Two other people who were inside the home escaped and alerted neighbors to call 911 after seeing them flee the home while screaming for help.

Police released a statement on Monday saying they are “still investigating a motive” and noted past disturbance calls made from the home.

“High Point officers have responded to this address five other times since 2014,” police said.

“Prior to this weekend’s incident, the most recent call to the home was January 3, 2022, when officers served an involuntary mental commitment order.”

Neighbors said they were woken up Saturday morning by two people banging on their doors and ringing their doorbells, asking for help from someone who was trying to kill them, Fox 8 reported.

“The man said that it was his father. He woke up, and there was a gun to his head,” a neighbor said. “Somehow he pulled the magazine out of the gun, and they escaped.”

Guildford County Schools released a statement in response to the tragic deaths of three of their students.

“It is with deep regret that we inform you about the recent loss to our school community of an 18-year-old and a 16-year-old student who attended Ragsdale High School, as well as a 10-year-old student who attended Union Hill Elementary School,” the statement said.

“We are heartbroken and our thoughts are with the family. District crisis teams will be at both schools throughout the week, and the district stands by to assist the family in whatever ways they need.”

This is the latest in a string of murder suicides that have made media headlines in recent months. Experts with Northeastern University say family mass killings make up 45% of 415 mass shootings since 2006.