San Diego Police Department officers were dispatched at approximately 8:18am on Wednesday, September 16, to a residence in the 6800 block of Boulder Lake Avenue in the Lake Murray/San Carlos area. The city's public police dispatch log confirms the call was classified as a "REPORT OF DEATH" and assigned to SDPD's Eastern Division.
The discovery was made after a neighbor became concerned about the family. According to police accounts provided to local media, the neighbor had heard several loud bangs that sounded like gunshots at approximately 9:30pm Tuesday, but became increasingly worried the following morning when the family wasn't responding to messages and their teenage daughter did not leave for school as expected.
The neighbor reportedly had access to the residence because she regularly watched the family's dog. When she entered the home Wednesday morning, she discovered the husband and wife unresponsive and immediately left the residence to call 911. Police subsequently found the couple's daughter dead elsewhere inside the house.
Police identified the victims only by age pending formal notification of relatives. The husband was 56 years old, his wife was 52 and their daughter was 14. All three suffered apparent gunshot wounds, and investigators recovered a firearm from inside the residence.
As of early Thursday, San Diego police and the San Diego County Medical Examiner had not publicly released the family's names, although SanDiegoVille was able to independently confirm their identities through reliable public sources. Because authorities are still withholding the identities pending next-of-kin notification, we are not publishing names.
The San Diego Police Department's Homicide Unit took over the investigation and spent much of Wednesday processing the home and surrounding property. Police have said there was no apparent forced entry and that officers had not previously been called to the residence.
Investigators have not announced who fired the shots or established an official sequence of events. Acting SDPD homicide Lt. Christopher Leahy told CBS 8 that murder-suicide is one possibility being examined, while stressing that investigators had not ruled out the possibility that another person or persons could have been responsible.
That distinction is important as speculation about the deaths has circulated among neighbors and online. At this point, police have not publicly identified the husband as the shooter, and there is not enough verified evidence to report that he killed his wife and daughter before taking his own life.
Police have nevertheless said they do not believe there is an ongoing danger to the surrounding community. Local reporting Wednesday indicated investigators were not actively searching the neighborhood for an outstanding suspect, although homicide detectives continued examining all possibilities.
Neighbors described a dramatically different picture of the family from the horrific scene discovered inside their home. One resident told FOX 5/KUSI that the family could frequently be seen outside together and appeared to enjoy spending time with one another.
Another neighbor, Lindy Ross, told CBS 8 that she had developed an especially close relationship with the couple's daughter after meeting her while walking her dog during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ross described the girl as witty and funny and said there was routinely laughter at the family's home.
Ross also said the girl's father was a Navy veteran and characterized the family as close-knit and well-liked by neighbors. She said she wanted them remembered as a loving family and described the teenager as a "gem of a young lady."
The 14-year-old was an eighth-grade student at Pershing Middle School. Principal Kristy Aragon informed school families of the student's death Wednesday, describing it as an unexpected loss and advising parents that counselors would be available on campus to help students and staff process the tragedy.
The deaths stunned an otherwise quiet residential area near Lake Murray. A candlelight vigil was reportedly being organized outside the family's home Wednesday evening as neighbors began mourning three people whose deaths, less than 24 hours earlier, had been completely unexpected.
The San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office is expected to conduct autopsies to formally determine the cause and manner of each death. Those findings, together with ballistics evidence, the location of the recovered firearm and other evidence collected inside the residence, could ultimately provide investigators with a clearer picture of what occurred Tuesday night.
For now, however, substantial questions remain unanswered. Police have not publicly identified the shooter, disclosed a suspected motive or announced a final determination that the deaths were a murder-suicide.
SanDiegoVille will update this story when authorities publicly identify the family and release additional findings about the circumstances surrounding their deaths.
Anyone with information that could assist investigators is asked to contact the San Diego Police Department Homicide Unit at 619-531-2293 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 888-580-8477.
The San Diego Police Department's Homicide Unit took over the investigation and spent much of Wednesday processing the home and surrounding property. Police have said there was no apparent forced entry and that officers had not previously been called to the residence.
Investigators have not announced who fired the shots or established an official sequence of events. Acting SDPD homicide Lt. Christopher Leahy told CBS 8 that murder-suicide is one possibility being examined, while stressing that investigators had not ruled out the possibility that another person or persons could have been responsible.
That distinction is important as speculation about the deaths has circulated among neighbors and online. At this point, police have not publicly identified the husband as the shooter, and there is not enough verified evidence to report that he killed his wife and daughter before taking his own life.
Police have nevertheless said they do not believe there is an ongoing danger to the surrounding community. Local reporting Wednesday indicated investigators were not actively searching the neighborhood for an outstanding suspect, although homicide detectives continued examining all possibilities.
Neighbors described a dramatically different picture of the family from the horrific scene discovered inside their home. One resident told FOX 5/KUSI that the family could frequently be seen outside together and appeared to enjoy spending time with one another.
Another neighbor, Lindy Ross, told CBS 8 that she had developed an especially close relationship with the couple's daughter after meeting her while walking her dog during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ross described the girl as witty and funny and said there was routinely laughter at the family's home.
Ross also said the girl's father was a Navy veteran and characterized the family as close-knit and well-liked by neighbors. She said she wanted them remembered as a loving family and described the teenager as a "gem of a young lady."
The 14-year-old was an eighth-grade student at Pershing Middle School. Principal Kristy Aragon informed school families of the student's death Wednesday, describing it as an unexpected loss and advising parents that counselors would be available on campus to help students and staff process the tragedy.
The deaths stunned an otherwise quiet residential area near Lake Murray. A candlelight vigil was reportedly being organized outside the family's home Wednesday evening as neighbors began mourning three people whose deaths, less than 24 hours earlier, had been completely unexpected.
The San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office is expected to conduct autopsies to formally determine the cause and manner of each death. Those findings, together with ballistics evidence, the location of the recovered firearm and other evidence collected inside the residence, could ultimately provide investigators with a clearer picture of what occurred Tuesday night.
For now, however, substantial questions remain unanswered. Police have not publicly identified the shooter, disclosed a suspected motive or announced a final determination that the deaths were a murder-suicide.
SanDiegoVille will update this story when authorities publicly identify the family and release additional findings about the circumstances surrounding their deaths.
Anyone with information that could assist investigators is asked to contact the San Diego Police Department Homicide Unit at 619-531-2293 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 888-580-8477.
Originally published on September 16, 2026.
