West Valley killings likely murder-suicide, police say

WEST VALLEY CITY — Police believe the crime scene found Tuesday night in West Valley City, where five family members were found dead in their home, was the result of a murder-suicide.

The family members who died were identified Thursday by West Valley City police: the mother was Bu Meh, 38, and her three children were son Boe Reh, 11, daughter Kristina Ree, 8, and daughter Nyay Meh, 2. The father and suspect in the case was identified as 42-year-old Dae Reh.

Vainuku said the 17-year-old son, who was found alive with a gunshot wound, remains in critical condition with a severe brain injury.

“A small handgun was found under the body of the father. We believe this was the weapon used in the shootings, however, ballistics and forensics investigation will determine that definitively,” said Roxeanne Vainuku, Deputy Communications Director for the West Valley City Police Department, at a press conference Wednesday.

“We can confirm 3 of the children were students within Granite School District,” said Andrea Stringham, a spokesperson for Granite School District.

Stringham said they would not immediately share which schools they attended, and would not release their names.

“The father likely shot all of the members of the family and then himself. However we do need to wait for confirmation from ballistics evidence and also from forensics evidence to be able to determine that definitively,” Vainuku said.

She said police believe the family members were shot sometime over the weekend, but they’re waiting on autopsy results to know more precisely. Vainuku said police didn’t get any reports of gunshots in the area, and when police canvassed the neighborhood, nobody recalled hearing any.

“We understand how frustrating it is for an incident of this magnitude to happen, and to not understand why,” Vainuku said. “The truth is we may never know.”

Vainuku said the family didn’t have a history of domestic violence issues.

“We really have no motive,” Vainuku said.

Officers served a welfare check on the residence on Monday after a family member said they hadn’t been able to get in contact with one of the people in the home, but police ultimately determined they could not enter because there was no evidence of distress and left the scene.

“In order to enter a home without a warrant … we would need to have some sort of evidence that someone was in danger, there was some sort of an emergency, there was some sort of a crime,” Vainuku said. “When (police) looked in the windows, talked to the neighbors, all of those sorts of things, none of that provided any sort of evidence that would be enough for us to enter a home without a warrant.”

On Wednesday, West Valley City posted a statement on Facebook following the discovery of the family:

“It is with a heavy heart that we ask the community to show love and support to the family affected by the tragedy that has occurred in our community. We also ask for support for our first responders that are working diligently to find answers. Together, we will work toward healing as a community.”

Mass killings happening at home

The deaths in West Valley City are the fifth mass killing in Utah since 2007. Aside from the shooting at Trolley Square that year, the perpetrators and victims in the other four cases weren’t strangers – they were people living in the same home.

• In 2014, a father shot and killed his wife, two young children, his mother-in-law, and himself inside the family’s Spanish Fork home.
• In 2020, a 16-year-old boy shot and killed his mother and three of his siblings, also injuring his father, at their home in Grantsville.
• In 2023, a father fatally shot his wife, their five children, and his mother-in-law at the family’s home in Enoch before taking his own life.

While shootings at malls and schools are what most of us think about when we hear of a mass killing, criminologist James Alan Fox at Northeastern University says they more often happen inside a family.

Along with USA Today and the Associated Press, Fox has managed a database of cases since 2006. The numbers include any intentional killing with four or more victims within a 24-hour period. Nearly 70 percent happened inside a residence or shelter.

With that statistic in mind, the KSL Investigators asked Fox why so much research and focus is put on public shootings.

“With public shootings that can happen in schools and churches, restaurants, concerts, it can happen to anyone at any time at any place, even you, without warning,” Fox said.

Fox says the only thing harder for most of us to think about is someone we love trying to do something like that to us.

He also said his data does not suggest mass killings are on the rise. He told KSL the rate has not changed significantly year to year but said even one death is one too many.

Gun deaths among children, teens

In a tragic trend, the number of children and teens shot and killed in Utah went up this year, and the majority of those kids were killed by someone in their own home.

KSL identified 15 minors fatally shot this year, including the three siblings found dead Tuesday.

That’s up from 12 in 2023. In both years, slightly more than half of those youths were killed by a parent or another family member.

KSL analyzed homicides and accidental shootings, using a database from the nonprofit Gun Violence Archive and our own coverage. Some shootings, one to two per year, fell into the accidental category.

Contributing: Courtney Johns and Annie Knox, KSL Investigates

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This is a breaking news story and was updated with further information after its initial publication.

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Domestic violence resources

If you or someone you know is going through abuse, help is available.

• The Utah Domestic Violence Coalition operates a confidential statewide, 24-hour domestic abuse hotline at 1-800-897-LINK (5465).
• Resources are also available online at the Utah Domestic Violence Coalition website.
• YWCA Women in Jeopardy program: 801-537-8600
• Utah’s statewide child abuse and neglect hotline: 1-855-323-DCFS (3237)

National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233

Read the full story on ksltv.com.

Related: Investigation continues after five found dead in West Valley City home