As officials investigated the shocking apparent murder-suicide of a family of five in Abington on Monday, residents of the tight-knit community said they didn’t know how to grapple with the deaths.
“It’s horrible, horrible. The worst thing that could happen to a family,” said Donna O’Neil.
The Plymouth County District Attorney’s office said five people — a 40-year-old woman, a 43-year-old man, an 11-year-old girl and 9-year-old brother and sister twins — were found dead of gunshot wounds at a Centre Street condo Monday morning.
A press release from the Abington Schools Superintendent identified them as the Zaccardi family.
“This morning we were informed of the unexpected and unexplainably tragic loss of the … family,” the school district said in a statement. “Their presence touched so many lives and there are no words to express the sadness we feel.”
Mike Miele says he knows the family and never would have suspected anything like the killings.
“It’s unbelievable to think that somebody would be that sick and disturbed and not healthy mentally to do that,” Miele said. “They seemed like a good family, the kids are just so sweet.”
Miele said he was unsure how to talk about the deaths with his own children.
“It’s going to be excruciating, that’s all I can really say,” Miele said. “I’m just going to try to be as honest as I can without going into details.”
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