Entire Pennsylvania family wiped out in tragic Christmas weekend shooting! Justin Kephart shot mom, himself – dad then commits suicide
Man fatally shot mother before standoff with cops, then kills self in Bethlehem Township, PA., home three days to Chrismas
Justin Kephart, 36, of Bethlehem Township fatally shot himself after an eight hour standoff with authorities, Friday
Authorities report that prior to the stand off Kephart had killed his mother
Justin Erik Kephart reportedly shot his mom, 62 -year-old Marylouise Meixell-Moyer 11 times, Friday
He fired more than 100 rounds during an eight-hour standoff with police, before turning his gun on himself
Dad Dale Kephart, 68, killed himself three days later, on Dec 26
Justin Kephart died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Tuesday
An entire Pennsylvania family was wiped out after a tragic Christmas weekend shooting left a man and his parents dead.
When the chaos settled police said, the gunman 36-year-old Justin Erik Kephart was presumed dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. His mother was also dead.
Justin Erik Kephart fatally shot his mother, Marylouise Meixell-Moyer, multiple times before firing more than 100 rounds during an eight-hour standoff with police, he then turned his gun on himself on Dec 18, His dad killed himself three days later on Dec 26.
A cop responding to a home in Bethlehem Township at around 1:30 p.m. Friday on a report of a woman bleeding on the front lawn, came under fire.
According to macall, Bethlehem Township police officers responded to the Dennis Street address after receiving a 911 call at 1:26 p.m. of a report of a woman lying in a yard “bleeding,” were greeted by gunfire on as they approached the woman.
SWAT at the truck at the shooting scene, Friday
Authorities sent an armored vehicle that was also fired on as officers tried to “extract” an officer who was pinned down.
“They were not able to render aid to the female,” police sources said.
During the ensuing standoff, Kephart’s father contacted police and said his son told him that he killed “mom” and a “cop,” according to a criminal complaint prepared Friday to be filed against Kephart.
When township police officers arrived they ran into a flurry of gunshots, the township police chief said.
The standoff, which kept some residents out of their homes late into the night, started around 1:30 p.m., with officers being fired upon on several different occasions until the standoff ended at 10:33 p.m.
Police decided to enter the home after seeing Kephart lying motionless.
The Shooter Justin Kephart posted this selfie on his Facebook page
Authorities identified the victim as 62 -year-old Meixell-Moyer. She had been shot 11 times, according to the city coroner’s office. Police have not confirmed a motive for the killing, although mother and son reportedly had a troubled relationship.
When Officer John Meehan arrived at the home to check on Meixell-Moyer’s body, gunman Kephart, began firing several rounds at the cop and a neighbor from inside his home, the chief said.
“I felt like I was in a war zone, really,” Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli said at the press conference.
“It’s hard to get inside the mind of someone like this.”
Dale Kephart’s home in Allentown PA is cordoned off by police, after his apparent suicide
Meehan and the neighbor spent nearly an hour taking cover behind parked cars across the street.
According to Pennsylvania State Police Lt. Joseph Sokolowski, more than 100 shell casings, two Russian assault rifles, an AK 47 and an AK74, as well as a 12-gauge, semi-automatic shotgun, were found in the home, he said.
Kephart had not been allowed to own weapons because of a previous felony drug conviction. Authorities believe he took the weapons from his father’s ammunition collection. His father, Dale Kephart, 68, was found dead in his Allentown home on Monday after committing suicide, authorities said.
No officers were wounded during the standoff.
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