MONCURE, N.C. – Chatham County sheriff’s deputies were called to three homes on a single property in Moncure Sunday evening. What they discovered was a bloodbath. A man shot and killed his wife and five other family members before turning the gun on himself, according to a report Monday.
One of the victims was a 93-year-old woman, Helen Mason, officials said. The other victims were identified as Jeanie Ray, 67; Ellis Mansfield, 73; Lisa Mansfield, 54; John Paul Sanderford, 41; Nicole Sanderford, 39.
According to a family member, the shooter was Ray’s husband, 66-year-old Larry Ray, WRAL-TV reported.
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Detectives remained on scene for about 12 hours after the initial call of shots fired came in. It wasn’t clear how the victims were related to each other. Moreover, officials would only say the shooter was among the dead.
“Our hearts go out to the families and friends of the victims of this terrible tragedy,” Chatham County Sheriff Mike Roberson said, according to Fox 8 Greensboro. “To lose any family member is devastating, but to lose several at once to unexpected violence is unimaginable. There are no words to describe the sense of loss we feel as a community in the wake of this terrible event.”
His office described the area where the shooting happened as a “quiet, close-knit community where violence is out of the norm,” Fox reported.
Moncure is about 30 miles southwest of Raleigh.
