A mother who fatally shot her husband and two children shared a disturbing social media post days before carrying out the killings.
Emily Long, 34, was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound inside the family’s Madbury home early Monday morning, per the New York Post.
Authorities say she killed her husband, Ryan Long, 48, and their two eldest children - Parker, 8, and Ryan, 6 - in an apparent murder-suicide.
Both children were shot once in the head, while Ryan, who was terminally ill, sustained multiple gunshot wounds.
Their three-year-old child was discovered alive and unharmed in the house and is now in the care of relatives.
Investigators recovered a gun from the scene, but a clear motive remains unknown.
Assistant Attorney General Ben Agati told WCAX: “One of the biggest questions they have right now is motive, why? And I think that’s probably one of the more difficult things that they are trying to grasp to understand how this came to be.”
The tragedy comes against the backdrop of Ryan’s battle with glioblastoma, an aggressive and incurable form of brain cancer.
Emily had documented her husband’s illness on social media, often reflecting on the toll it was taking on their family.
She described trying to create normalcy for her children even as they struggled to understand what was happening.
In one recent video, Emily admitted: “I am determined to create normalcy. I have been struggling so much and really depressed and just have really become reclusive, and just wanted to be with my kids and my husband. That being said, I’m making a change and it is starting today … And I’m making a point to get out of my depression and do this for my family.”
But her posts also hinted at deep despair.
As reported by the Sun, in a since-deleted TikTok, she told followers: “Today I decided I need to make a conscious effort to shift my mindset. I’m getting out of this depression whether I want to or not.”
In another clip, she confessed: “I know that I need to see a therapist, I know that I need to ask for help... but I’m not ready to acknowledge that, I think.”
She went on to describe feeling as though she was “withering” away. “I’m mourning my husband, I’m mourning my marriage and it’s still there. It’s very confusing and it’s very overwhelming.”
Emily worked as director of operations for the restaurant chain Wing-Itz.
Ryan, a school psychologist at Oyster River Middle School, was remembered by colleagues and neighbors as devoted to his students and his family.
Neighbors in the town of fewer than 2,000 people expressed shock at the devastating loss.
Bevy Ketel, who lived nearby, told WBZ-TV: “It was a perfect family as far as we knew. It was shocking. We didn’t see it coming.”
She recalled seeing the Long children recently selling lemonade near their home.
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