A 4-year-old girl in Missouri reportedly survived a murder-suicide by pretending to sleep as her father gunned down her mother and half-brother, officials said.
Hearing gunfire, the young girl went into the living room just before midnight Thursday to discover her mom, Katrina Banks, on the floor in the Bellefontaine Neighbors home, news station KSDK reported.
Her dad, Dornubari Dugbor, instructed his daughter to return to her bedroom, where she faked sleep as more shots were fired, according to police.
Dugbor, 31, then reportedly called authorities to come to the home and informed dispatchers that three dead bodies would be found inside.
Police rushed to the house early Friday and discovered 31-year-old Banks and her 15-year-old son, Kevin Johnson, dead from gunshot wounds. Nearby, the suspected gunman, who was engaged to Banks, was found on the couch dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chin, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
Officers investigating the scene discovered the little girl in her bedroom pretending to be asleep, police said.
She was brought to a local hospital for evaluation and then released into the custody of relatives, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
“I think it is going to be very imperative for this community to come together to assist this young baby,” family friend Katrice Noble told KSDK.
Authorities said they are still trying to determine a motive for the grisly shootings.
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