Kansas Man Kills Wife and 4 Children, Then Himself, Police Say
Police say Ronald H. Williams, 53, called 911 to report the killings before a two-hour standoff at the family's home ended with officers finding six bodies.
A Kansas man fatally shot his four young children and their mother before killing himself Tuesday, authorities said, after calling 911 himself to report what he had done.
Officers were already at an unrelated car crash two blocks away when the call came in from a single-family home in Windfield, Police Chief Robbie DeLong said at a news conference.
"At approximately 8:50 a.m., our officers received a 911 call from a male individual who stated that he had killed his entire family and he was getting ready to kill himself," DeLong said.
The first officer to reach the house approached but pulled back after hearing a single gunshot, the chief said. Authorities then set up a perimeter, treating the situation as an armed, barricaded person.
A little more than two hours after the 911 call, with a regional SWAT team and Cowley County sheriff's deputies joining the standoff, officers breached the home and found the bodies, DeLong said.
"I want to make something very clear to the community," he said. "This was an isolated incident. There is no ongoing threat."
Authorities identified the dead as the suspect, Ronald H. Williams, 53; the mother, Kelly L. George, 44; and four children: Carol A. Williams, 9; Ronald H. Williams Jr., 7; Sarah K. Williams, 5; and Kelly M. McGee Williams, 3.
DeLong said police had contact with the father as recently as the last few weeks and had responded to the area of the family's home in the past after reports of gunfire, but officers found no evidence.
"We have calls of just aggressive behavior, but not enough really to act on," he said.
Williams was a registered sex offender, according to the state registry. Kansas criminal court records show that in 1998 a judge accepted his guilty pleas to two felony counts of attempted indecent liberties with a child and one count of battery involving the same victim, a 15-year-old girl.
The Kansas Bureau of Investigation has joined the investigation, with identifying a motive a key goal, DeLong said. KBI Special Agent in Charge Jason Diaz said agents would seek to interview relatives and neighbors.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, or go to 988lifeline.org.
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