A Minnesota man confessed on Facebook to killing four family members before taking his own life Wednesday, police said.
While the family slept Tuesday night, police said Brandon Taylor Cole-Skogstad, 29, shot his aunt, uncle, two young cousins, and their dog.
According to officials, when cops arrived at the house the next afternoon, Cole-Skogstad killed himself with the murder weapon.
A SWAT team discovered the horrific scene upon entering the house; after the final gunshot was heard, cops revealed.
Police nearby Hermantown had been asked to conduct a welfare check on Cole-Skogstad. Authorities said that relatives claimed he was in crisis and planned to kill family members.
According to police, their counterparts in Duluth were asked by Hermantown police to check on the family’s home, but they didn’t arrive in time.
Before cops arrived, Cole-Skogstad had confessed to the mass murder on Facebook. The assailant wrote that he made an “absolutely horrid choice,” Duluth Police Chief Mike Tusken said.
The executioner wrote he “suffered many years of mental illness” but “almost never sought out help because I felt I never deserved it,” Tusken confirmed.
The chief said the victims were Riana Lou Barry, 44; Sean Christopher Barry, 47; Shiway Elizabeth Barry, 12; and Sadie Lucille Barry, 9.
“It is a terribly traumatic event. … We all have really heavy hearts,” Tusken said, adding that it was the worst homicide case he’d seen in his 30-year career.