Utah, (SONNA) – Residents of Enoch City, Utah, are left grieving after police said a father shot and killed his seven family members before turning the gun on himself.
Their despair stems not only from the sheer tragedy of that Utah father’s alleged murder-suicide but also from its implications: five chairs empty in local schools; local police officers living with the trauma of discovering eight dead bodies during a routine welfare check; a family now perpetually missing from community events.
“No one will probably know what was going through the minds of these individuals,” said city manager Rob Dotson, who attempted to summarize the collective grief of Enoch City. “However, we do know that they were our friends, they were our neighbors, and that we loved them.”
Dotson spoke in front of a crowd of journalists on Thursday alongside the city’s mayor, police chief and a representative from the school district. As they tried to provide updates about the tragedy, their voices shook and their eyes glistened in the lighting of the press conference. “It’s not fear,” Dotson clarified; instead, their public emotions embodied the community’s reaction.
“This is what our public feels. Discussing it, talking to each other about it brings out these emotions,” he said.
A Family Lost
Dotson noted that the investigation is still ongoing.
According to neighbor Aaron Longrifle, the Haight family seemed like “great people.” Enoch City Mayor Geoffrey Chesnut was also a neighbor and described the younger Haights coming to play with his sons in his yard.
According to a press release from Enoch City, the Haight household at the time had eight members. Michael Haight, 42, lived with his wife, Tausha Haight, 40, and Tausha’s mother, Gail Earl, 78. The Haights had five children — three daughters aged 17, 12 and 7, and two sons aged 7 and 4.
Earl was residing in the home to provide “support through the difficulties that they were encountering,” according to Chesnut.
Police Chief Jackson Ames said the local police were “familiar with the family.” He noted that the police were involved in “some investigations with the family” years prior, though he did not provide specifics.
According to Chesnut, Tausha and one of her daughters attended a church event on Tuesday night. When Tausha missed an appointment on Wednesday, a community member requested a welfare check.
“The welfare check to locate Tasha became an effort to find the entire family,” said Dotson.
Source: ABC News
