There was nothing to indicate trouble inside the spacious Johns Creek apartment where police on Monday discovered four bodies, including two boys ages 12 and 5.
Neighbors said the man and woman who lived there were a happy couple. Police, meanwhile, said their visit to the upscale Aylesbury Farms apartment a little before noon was the first time they’d been called there.
Answers may be hard to come by, as Johns Creek Police Chief Ed Densmore said the deaths appear to be the result of a murder-suicide. All of the deceased are believed to be related, though police have yet to release their identities pending notification of kin.
“It’s a rather complicated crime scene right now,” Densmore said at a late afternoon news conference. “We’re going to be here for hours.”
Those who knew the family were shocked to discover what had happened.
“The father comes out nearly every morning and puts the kids on the school bus,” said neighbor Mohana Venkataih, who lives in an adjoining complex. She said she routinely saw the boys playing outside.
Joseph Olander, who lives above the victims, called the man and woman who live in the apartment “a very loving couple.” He reported hearing nothing unusual Monday morning.
Officers were dispatched to the scene after a welfare check was requested by a co-worker of one of the deceased adults, Densmore said.
Densmore would not speculate on which member of the family was responsible for the killings, and the causes of death have not been released.
“It’s pretty bad as you can imagine,” the police chief said. “Any time you deal with something this bad involving kids, it’s heart-wrenching.”
Family members of the deceased began arriving at the complex around 3 p.m. At about that same time, children were returning home from school.
A group of some 15 children, including some who lived inside the area cordoned off by police, gathered near the scene of the murders. Police escorted them to their homes, telling them that a tragedy had occurred while assuring them they were safe.
Before they escorted children to their homes, police told the others that a tragedy had happened, but that they were safe.
“This is the first time we’ve seen anything like this,” neighbor Benjamin Rad said. “You’re shocked when it happens right next to where you live.”
The homicides were the first in the brief history of Johns Creek, which was incorporated in December 2006.
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