Four people were found shot to death in a North Dakota wheat field. Police point to the discovery of a weapon as a likely, tragic murder-suicide.
Towner County Sheriff Andrew Hillier said in a news release that deputies found the bodies Monday after someone alerted authorities to four unresponsive people.
They were not named in the press release, and Hillier did not identify a possible motive. Evidence found at the scene suggests the killings were a murder-suicide, he said in the release.
Locals told a news outlet that a dispute occurred, and a man shot and killed his brother, son, and boss before turning the gun on himself.
The scene had farm equipment riddled with bullets. The four men worked together on the farm.
Towner county, a rural farming community, is still processing the scene and investigating what events led to the killing and apparent suicide.
For more on this story, please consider these sources:
- Four people are found shot to death in a North Dakota wheat field NBC News
- Nearby town shaken after four die in murder-suicide in northeast North Dakota Grand Forks Herald
- Four bodies discovered in Towner County wheat field KFYR
- Four found shot, killed in Towner County wheat field KVLY
- ‘Everybody loved Doug:’ friends honor farmer killed in farm field triple-murder suicide INFORUM