4 in Family Dead as Father Slays Wife, 2 Children, Self
A man shot his estranged wife and two of their children to death Friday in their front yard, then fled with his 1-year-old son, shot and wounded the boy and killed himself, authorities said.
The first shootings occurred across the street from the elementary school where the oldest child attended kindergarten.
Carl Swanson had been talking with his estranged wife, Donna, 25, outside the family’s home when he fatally shot her and their two oldest children, Tabatha, 6, and James, 3, said Michael Hogan, Edmunds County state’s attorney.
Swanson’s body and his wounded son, Joel, were found in his car about three miles south of Hosmer, a farming community about 230 miles northwest of Sioux Falls, said Capt. Tom Berheim of the South Dakota Highway Patrol.
Joel was listed in critical condition in a Minneapolis hospital.
“I understand only after the fact there were protection orders in place. They had separated before and there was a protection order,” Hogan said.
The couple, who did not live together, were divorcing, Hogan said.
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