Credit: GoFundMe
32-year-old Aaron Williams selfishly shot his two young daughters before turning the gun on himself in Columbus, Ohio.
According to police, he shot himself as officers arrived at the family’s apartment.
When they entered the home, authorities found 9-year-old Ava Williams and her 6-year-old sister, Alyse, critically wounded from gunshot wounds.
Aaron died at the scene. The girls were rushed to a nearby hospital where they both later died from their wounds.
via People:
“The girls were just so bright and full of energy,” Erica Osborn, a family friend, tells the Columbus Dispatch. “Every time I knocked on the door to drop a meal off or pick one up, they would come running. The first thing they tell you is that they love you. I just cannot believe they’re gone.”
The attack was not the first time that Williams has been violent. The Dispatch obtained court records that showed that he was charged with domestic violence with intent to harm and assault in September 2018. He pleaded guilty and was given a three-day suspended sentence for a reduced charge of disorderly conduct.
In a statement, Columbus police Chief Thomas Quinlan said the case has been difficult for officers who responded to the scene.
“Behind every badge is a human — a mother, father, sister or brother,” Quinlan’s statement read. “And while we have a job to do — a job we signed up for — we hurt too. We grieve with these families. Our hearts break for their devastated mother, and all who loved them.”
Prayers go out to Ava & Alyse’s family. A GoFundMe account has been set up to to help the girls’ mother, Vanecia Shameer Kirkland, cover funeral expenses.
