LYNN — Four relatives are dead after multiple homicides and a suicide Tuesday evening in Lynn, according to Essex County District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett’s office.
The deaths played out across three different locations in the city, beginning when two men, ages 66 and 34, were found dead of apparent gunshot wounds when Lynn Police responded to 98 Rockaway Ave. at 2:53 p.m. An initial investigation then determined that a 31-year-old female was a potential suspect, Blodgett’s office said.
The woman was then found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound inside her motor vehicle in the Stop & Shop parking lot at 35 Washington St.
Investigators later discovered an adult male dead in a motor vehicle outside 44 Laighton St.
All of the deceased individuals were related, Blodgett’s office said, but their names and specific relationships to one another were not immediately released.
Lynn Police Chief Chris Reddy said there is no threat to the public.
The incidents remain under investigation by Lynn Police, Essex State Police Detective Unit, and the Essex District Attorney’s Office.
Mayor Jared Nicholson, in a statement, said the loss of life was “devastating.”
“Our thoughts go out to the victims of this tragedy and we send our sincerest condolences to the families affected. While the investigation is still underway we have been assured that there is no ongoing danger to the community. We ask for the public to respect the family’s privacy at this time as public safety officials continue their investigations,” he said.
At the Rockaway Street scene, a woman who identified herself only as Jenny, said she lives around the corner from the crime scene, on High Rock Street. She said that at around 2:30 p.m. she heard around 10 gunshots, which she initially mistook for car repair sounds, followed by a brief pause before around 20 shots.
“I was heading to Market Basket, to go shopping, and I know there’s a shop over there, someone fixes cars down there, so I figured ‘maybe he’s fixing his car,” the woman said. “It was like 10 times, bang bang, then it stops, and after that it was bam bam bam bam, over 20, so I hit the floor.”
The woman said that when the gunfire subsided, she called her son, who had left the house on his bike only five minutes before she heard the shots.
“The first person I called was my son, because five minutes prior to that, he left on his bike to go to the YMCA,” she said.
Later, at the Stop & Shop parking lot, police tape blocked off the lane closest to Boston Street, and police cruisers blocked sight lines to the very edge of the lot, where a black car was parked.
A large crowd gathered to watch in the parking lot, with many videotaping police movements.
Charlie McKenna can be reached at [email protected]. Anthony Cammalleri can be reached at [email protected].
