A family murder-suicide in St. Charles, Ill. took the lives of a man’s 16-year-old twin daughters. In the shooting, the father wounded his wife, before taking his own life. The wife is expected to survive. A statement by Deputy Chief David Kintz on Sunday said Randall Coffland, 48, had dialed 911 at 5:12 p.m. on Friday to say he had shot and killed his twin daughters, Brittany and Tiffany Coffland, along with his wife, Anjum, 46, and was about to shoot himself.
Simultaneously, another 911 call was made by Anjum Coffland, where she told the dispatcher that her husband had shot her daughters.
She said he had shot her in the legs and that she had lost a lot of blood. According to a report by the Northwest Herald, Anjum added the words, “He’s finally lost it.”
ABC 7 Chicago reports that on arrival at the scene, police found the bodies of the twin girls and the father. All three had been shot once in the head. However, Anjum was still alive – she had been shot in the legs and was rushed to the hospital, where she is likely to survive.
Police release audio of 911 calls
On Sunday, St. Charles police released the shocking 911 calls, and it was at this stage they also released the news that the father was responsible for the shooting. Kintz said there was no evidence of any kind of a fight in the home, and that one daughter was found on the couch, while the other was in a bedroom.
Kintz added that the twin girls would have turned 17 on Tuesday.
Police say 911 calls indicate a father shot his family in St. Charles on Friday. https://t.co/wmDCBO3KGv pic.twitter.com/rw7dPLYqLZ
— Chicago Tribune (@chicagotribune) March 12, 2017
Twin girls’ parents were separated
According to police, the couple is separated, and the twin girls were living with their father.
It is currently unknown why the mother was present in the apartment at the time of the incident or the motivation for the shooting. In the meantime Anjum Coffland is recovering in the Northwestern Medicine Delnor Hospital, where she is listed as stable, and police have not yet taken a full statement. Police recovered two 9 mm handguns from the condo and are yet to confirm whether they were owned by the father. Kintz added there was no previous history of domestic violence relating to Randall Coffland.