Alan Smith, 44, on Sunday, August 23, killed his 8 relatives before setting his parents home in Billings, Montana on fire, before stepping outside to kill himself

Smith killed his sister Megan Ireland-Ghekiere, 39, and her two biological children, Owen, 13 and Chloe, 7

Megan’s stepchildren, Landon Ghekiere, 15, and Charlotte Ghekiere, 12, were killed in the massacre

Smith also killed his parents Dana Smith 73, and Barbara Smith, 72, as well as his 92-year-old wheelchair-bound grandmother Evelyn Smith

The killer then set the home on fire with all present at the Sunday family dinner hosted by his parents trapped inside, before going outside to shoot himself

Critically injured, Alan Smith died in hospital

Alan Smith reportedly, had moved in with his parents in Montana and stayed with them for years before he was asked to leave a couple of weeks before the murder-suicide

Megan Ireland-Ghekiere and her two children, Owen and Chloe, were all killed at her parents home in Billings, Montana. The gunman who also set the home on fire was her 44-year-old brother Alan Smith

A photo album and a slain mother’s Bible both remarkably survived after multiple fires were set in a house where a family member killed eight of his closest relatives, before taking his own life in a ghastly murder-suicide.
“There are rays of good and sunshine that come through this,” Interim Yellowstone County Sheriff Kent O’Donnell said as he addressed the media on Wednesday following the tragic events at a 4,000-square-foot home just outside of suburban Billings, Montana.
Sheriff O’Donnell described how one of his deputies was sifting through the ashes of the destroyed property when he came across the “fairly intact” family photo album and Bible belonging to homeowner Barbara Smith.
“This morning as I arrived on scene, detectives came to me and said, ‘You’re not going to believe this. Come look at this’,” Sheriff O’Donnell said.

Megan’s stepchildren, Landon Ghekiere, 15 and Charlotte Ghekiere, 12, were also killed in the massacre. Charlotte who was remembered as “funny, precocious, and adorable — with just the right amount of stubborn,” called 911 to report the debacle

“I went over to some of the stuff that had been excavated from the house. They had a family photo album that is fairly intact. And what I can’t help but think, for some reason, was preserved is Barbara’s personal Bible with her family information in the cover of it and hardly a mark on it,” the officer said, emotion catching in his voice.
“If that doesn’t make you think there’s something higher involved in our lives,” he added.

After shooting multiple people in the residence, a 44-year-old man set his parents home trapping all eight people present inside. The home in Billings, Montana was razed in the arson

Barbara Smith, 72, and her 73-year-old husband, Dana, were having dinner at the house with their blended family on Sunday when, deputies believe, their son, Alan Smith, 44, who had recently been kicked out, came to the property and started shooting, Sheriff O’Donnell said.
All eight victims were part of the same blended family, with the oldest being 92-year-old matriarch Evelyn Smith, who was visiting.
The other victims were named as Megan Ireland-Ghekiere, 39, her two children, Owen Ireland, 13, and Chloe Ireland, 7, and her two step-children, Charlotte Ghekiere, 12, and Landon Ghekiere, 15.
Megan’s 92-year-old wheelchair-bound grandmother was also killed, the U.S. Sun reported.

Barbara Smith killed in her son’s Sunday rampage along with her grandchildren Owen, 13, and Chloe, 7, [photo]

The killer is believed to have arrived at the house around 5:50 p.m. local time, and neighbors reported hearing a sound “like fireworks” 10 minutes later.
At 6:01 p.m., a female inside the house called 911, telling the dispatcher that people were hurt, as gunshots could be heard in the background, said Sheriff O’Donnell.
After talking with dispatchers, the female suddenly stopped speaking, but the line remained open for some time, according to authorities.
A family friend told the media that 12-year-old Charlotte “was the hero” who called 911, adding that she “tried to save her family.”
Cops from Yellowstone County and the Billings Police Department arrived on the scene at 6:10 p.m. and confronted the shooter at the front of the already-smoking house, according to Sheriff O’Donnell.
The suspect then ran into the house and more gunshots were heard, before he ran into the backyard, which was surrounded by a 5-foot privacy fence.

Adam Ghekiere with his biological children, Landon, [left], and Charlotte, [front row right], his wife Megan Ghekiere and her biological kids, Owen Ireland, [right], and Chloe Ireland [front row left]. All but Adam who was not at the home of his inlaws at the time, died in Sunday’s horrific attack

A further gunshot was heard at 6:15 p.m., just seconds before flames started shooting out of the house.
Because the property sits outside of Billings city limits, it has no fire hydrants in front of it, making the blaze harder to tackle, the sheriff explained.
Multiple fires are believed to have been started inside the property.
The suspect had lived in the house before but wasn’t currently residing there, Sheriff O’Donnell said.
Smith lived with his parents for several years before they asked him to move out a couple of weeks ago, according to his former brother-in-law.

Alan Smith killed his sister Megan , [center], along with their parents Dana and Barbara Smith. He also killed his wheel chair-bound grandmother Evelyn Smith, 92, who was visiting

The sheriff confirmed cops had had no prior contact with Smith and hadn’t been called to the property before.
Authorities are still sifting through the remains of the house “shovel by shovel,” with some of the victims’ bodies still inside the property, Sheriff O’Donnell said.
Multiple weapons were recovered from the residence, but authorities are yet to carry out autopsies or provide further details as to a possible motive.
“It’s just tragic, it just tugs at me and tugs at the community,” Sheriff O’Donnell said.
A GoFundMe campaign for Ghekiere said he lost his wife, children and other family members in the incident, has raised over $109,000 of the $150,000 goal.