News

Actions

Texas mom ‘convened a family meeting’ before shooting daughters

Posted at 10:30 PM, Jun 27, 2016
and last updated 2016-06-27 22:30:45-04

KATY, Texas — A woman who killed her daughters and then was killed by police had called a family meeting when she opened fire, KTRK reports. One of those daughters was to be married Monday.

On Friday, Christy Sheats, 42, pulled out a gun and fired, striking both of her daughters, Taylor, 22, and Madison, 17, as they and her husband ran outside. Sheats fired again in front of the house, hitting Taylor once before going inside to reload, witnesses said. Sheats allegedly walked back outside and shot Taylor one more time.

Taylor was rushed to the hospital, where she later died. Madison was pronounced dead outside the home.

Officers found Sheats in the street, “and, after refusing to drop her weapon, was shot and killed by a Fulshear officer,” according to police.

Sheats had a history of mental illness, and police had responded to the Texas home “for previous altercations” stemming from her “mental crisis,” a Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman told People Magazine. A neighbor who did not want to be named told People, “My parents witnessed her being put into an ambulance” years earlier. Others described her as a recluse.

She had just reunited with Jason Sheats after the two separated for a time, according to the Washington Post.

Friday, the day he would watch his wife shoot their daughters to death, was his birthday, according to the Post. Jason Sheats was hospitalized for emotional trauma; photos show him being led away from the scene of the shooting.