Officials are investigating an apparent murder-suicide at an East Valley home after a mother and her two children were found shot to death Monday night.
Sheriff Joe Arpaio said a neighbor alerted police around 9 p.m. after noticing a car with a hose from the exhaust of the vehicle fed into a window of the residence, located near Recker and Ocotillo roads.
Medical examiner at scene where multiple bodies are found in Gilbert area off Recker and Ocotillo. #abc15 pic.twitter.com/tOaL34FayL
— Sonu Wasu ABC15 (@SonuWasu) July 26, 2016
Arpaio at a Tuesday press conference identified the mother as 45-year-old Lisa Gerhart, who had recently separated from her husband. The other two victims were a 17-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl. All three had died of gunshot wounds.
A handgun was reportedly found near Gerhart's body.
A neighbor tells me lady living in home where multiple bodies were found seen crying over the weekend because her husband left her. #abc15
— Sonu Wasu ABC15 (@SonuWasu) July 26, 2016
Arpaio said the incident is being investigated as a murder-suicide. Authorities will confirm their findings pending the completion of an autopsy.
