Father and Son, 9, Shot Dead in Apparent Murder-Suicide, as Family Friend Says Child ‘Meant Everything' to the Dad By Bailey Richards

A father and son died in what police have described as an apparent murder-suicide.

The man, 40, and his son, 9, were found in a Mansfield, Ohio, residence in the afternoon of Saturday, Nov. 29, after officers responded to a report of “two individuals with gunshot wounds,” according to a news release from the Mansfield Police Department (MPD).

Authorities responded to the scene around noon local time and located the father and son inside the home. The son was taken to the nearby OhioHealth Mansfield Hospital, where “he later succumbed to his injuries,” police said. His father, meanwhile, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Mansfield police described the fatal incident as a “possible” murder-suicide. “While the circumstances appear to be a murder-suicide, detectives from the Mansfield Division of Police, along with the Richland County Coroner’s Office, continue to investigate,” police said in the release. “Out of respect for the family, the names of the individuals are not being released at this time.”

The Mansfield Police Department did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment on Sunday, Nov. 30.

The girlfriend of the father was also in the home at the time of the incident, but she did not appear to be physically injured, Cleveland 19 News reported, citing neighbors.

Frances Gray, a nearby resident and friend of the father and son, told the Ohio outlet, “I was asking her what happened, what’s going on, and she was probably in shock or whatever.”

“She was like, ‘I don’t know.’ She just heard a pop,” Gray added of the girlfriend. “And she was upstairs is all she kept on saying.”

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Speaking with Cleveland 19 News, Gray and her husband, Shawn McArdle, also expressed confusion and disbelief at the possibility that the father — who was also their landlord — and his son died in a murder-suicide.

Gray described the father as “an amazing guy” who “loved his son.”

According to Gray, the man was also “a good friend” and “good landlord” who “gave people chances that didn’t need chances.”

“We can’t see him doing any harm to his son because his son meant everything to him,” she continued.

McArdle, meanwhile, said, “I don’t believe it at all to save my soul. He would never harm his own child at all whatsoever.”

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