Teen fatally shoots three siblings, himself in Alaska
A 15-year-old boy has shot and killed three siblings at a home near Fairbanks, Alaska, before turning the gun on himself, authorities said Wednesday.
In a statement, Alaska State Troopers said that officers responding to a report of shots being fired at the home found the four children dead from gunshot wounds.
The children were ages 5, 8, 17 and 15, said troopers spokesperson Tim DeSpain, noting that their parents were not home when the shooting occurred.
Troopers said, citing their investigation, that the boy shot three siblings and then shot himself, adding the question of motive is part of the probe.
Three other children were also at the home but were not injured, noted the statement.
DeSpain said the children who were not injured are all under the age of 7, adding all the children were siblings.
DeSpain said the gun was a "family gun but beyond that, it's all still part of the ongoing investigation."
The rate of gun deaths hit the highest level since 1995, with more than 45,000 fatalities each year. Firearm purchases also rose to record levels in 2020 and 2021.
With gun epidemic assuming alarming proportions in the country, US President Joe Biden described everyday places in America as "killing fields".
Last month, he signed into law the first major gun safety legislation passed by Congress in three decades.
Titled the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the bills are the most significant federal legislation to address gun violence since the assault weapons ban of 1994.
The US president acknowledged that the law falls far short of what he and his party had advocated for to stop the alarming frequency of shootings in the US.
"It will not save every life from the epidemic of gun violence, but if this law had been in place years ago, even this last year, lives would have been saved. It matters. It matters. But it's not enough and we all know that," he said.
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