A New Hampshire mother shot and killed her husband and two of their children before turning the gun on herself in what police are calling a murder-suicide.
The shocking crime happened Monday evening inside the family’s home in Madbury, a small town about an hour-and-a-half north of Boston.
The victims were identified as Ryan Long, 48, his wife Emily Long, 34, and two of their children, Parker, 8, and Ryan Jr., 6.
Highlights
- A New Hampshire mother fatally shot her husband with terminal brain cancer and two of their children before taking her own life in a murder-suicide.
- Emily Long used TikTok to share her struggles as a caregiver of her husband with glioblastoma, amassing over 170,000 followers.
- The couple's youngest child, aged three, was found alive and is now under family care after the tragedy in Madbury.
- Neighbors described the family as close-knit and the husband as a beloved community member and school psychologist.
Emily Long shot and killed her husband and two children in a New Hampshire murder-suicide
Image credits: Emily Long/Facebook
The couple’s youngest child, a three-year-old, was found alive and unharmed inside the home.
Police said Emily Long used a handgun from inside the house to kill her family before dying from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. A firearm was recovered at the scene.
Autopsies confirmed that both children died from single gunshot wounds to the head.
Ryan Long, who was reportedly battling terminal brain cancer, suffered multiple gunshot wounds. Emily Long died from a single gunshot wound to the head.
Authorities said the scene was discovered after a chilling 911 call came in around 8:20 p.m. Monday.
New Hampshire State Police and Madbury police officers rushed to the home, where they found the bodies.
The three deaths were ruled homicides, and Emily Long’s death was classified as a suicide.
Neighbors said the family appeared happy and close-knit.
Image credits: Google Maps
“It was a perfect family as far as we knew,” neighbor Bevy Ketel told local station WBZ-TV. “It’s just shocking. We didn’t see it coming.”
Days before the killings, Emily Long posted troubling messages on TikTok. She had been using the platform as a kind of diary, documenting her life as what she called a “Brain Cancer Wife.”
Her husband, Ryan, worked as a school psychologist and had been diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive and often terminal form of brain cancer.
In her videos, Emily had admitted she felt “lonely” and “anxious” as she coped with her husband’s illness and the stress of raising three children. She had more than 170,0000 followers on her now-private TikTok account.
She spoke of her husband’s seizures and struggle to find the proper regimen of medications.
“I feel very, very lonely. I feel so anxious,” she said in a video, according to the Daily Mail. “I know that I need to see a therapist, I know that I need to ask for help.”
She said she could feel herself “withering away.”
In videos before the tragedy, Long spoke about her loneliness and anxiety while coping with her husband’s cancer
Image credits: Emily Long/Facebook
“I have been struggling so much and really depressed and just have really become reclusive, and just wanted to be with my kids and my husband. That being said, I’m making a change and it is starting today … And I’m making a point to get out of my depression and do this for my family,” she said in a video just two days before the tragedy.
Ryan Long was remembered as a beloved member of the community.
Neighbors described Ryan as kind and deeply connected to the town.
“He certainly touched a lot of lives,” Ketel said. “He was part of the fabric of the community, and his family goes along with it.”
Police said they are still working to determine a motive for the killings.
“One of the biggest questions they have right now is motive, why?” Assistant Attorney General Ben Agati told WCAX.
“And I think that’s probably one of the more difficult things that they are trying to grasp to understand how this came to be.”
The toddler is under the care of family members.
If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255 or text Crisis Text Line at 741741.