Man that Killed His Five Children on April 4, 2009

According to The New York Times, James Harrison 34, the man that shot and killed his five children, and then himself in Graham, Washington was distraught due to the fact that his wife was cheating on him with another man. The authorities that were investing this murder confirmed the rocky relationship problems between the two. The police also confirmed that Harrison was found dead in his car around 8:30 a.m. Saturday morning in Auburn. They found him with his car engine still running. Detective Troyer also said that James Harrison shot his children early Saturday morning, and then drove to a convenience store in Auburn, where he shot and killed himself.

After the deputies on the case found Harrison in car, they proceeded to his home eight hours later. Pierce County sherrif's deputies went to the mobile home because one of their relatives went to the home and no one answered the door. They insisted that the police come to the home because the relative saw a child lying on the mobile home floor inside the home, and no one answered he door.

When the police entered the mobile home they found four of the children, shot dead in the their bedrooms, and another one in the bathroom. The neighbors identified the kids as Maxine, 16; Samantha 14 or 15; Jamie, 11; Heather 8; and James, 7. "One can only hope that most of them were asleep," said Detective Ed Troyer of the Sherriff's Department from the area.

Angela Harrison, the children's mother, and James Harrison's wife. She wasn't present at the mobile home when this tragic massacre occurred. The deputies say that this is the worse murder that has happened in Pierce County. The States Spokesperson for the Children's Administration, Sherry Hill, said that James Harrison physically abused one of his five children. The abuse was recorded on February 2007.

One of the Harrison's neighbors said the family kept to themselves. They lived a few doors down from the Harrison family, but they often heard the kids screaming (screaming for help)in the house. What I don't understand is why the family that heard the screaming didn't call the cops every time they heard the children screaming. They obviously had a hard life and it was tragic that their lives ended at such a young age. If they constantly called the police they children could have been moved to a relative's house and maybe this could have prevented this tragedy.

According to the New York Times, he deaths of these people followed recent mass shootings in Alabama, New York, and North Carolina. Also on Saturday, a gunman shot and killed three police officers in Pittsburg. Are these problems due to gun control?

Let me know what you think! I would like to hear your response to whether or not this has to do with gun control in America.