Gunshots claim storm refugees

GRAPEVINE, Texas – Three family members who sought refuge here following the hurricanes and were facing eviction were found shot to death early Friday in an apparent murder-suicide.

Grapevine police officers found the bodies of a 40-year-old man, his 37-year-old wife and their 14-year-old son. Police say the family was from La Place, La. The bodies were found shortly after 9 a.m. in an upstairs unit of the Village on the Creek Apartments. A shotgun was found near the bodies.

Neighbors told police they heard three gunshots about noon Thursday. The apartment manager called police Friday to make a welfare check.

The names of the victims were being withheld pending notification of relatives.

Friday night, police located the couple’s 16-year-old daughter with her boyfriend in North Carolina.

A friend said Hurricane Katrina destroyed the family’s rental house in Louisiana. The family spent a week on the streets before moving into a hotel. After Hurricane Rita struck, they moved again and ended up in Grapevine. She said they had been at the complex since September.

The family had recently been served with eviction papers, Tarrant County officials said.

“He pretty much lost it after the hurricane,” friend Teri Curry said of the man who died. Curry said she often talked with his wife, who had been a nurse in the New Orleans area but could not find work here because of health problems.

Curry said the woman would tell her: “I failed my kids again, Teri. My kids are starving.”

Justice of the Peace Sandy Prindle, who issued the eviction notice Dec. 22, gave the family information about contacts with the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

“They were definitely given the opportunity to seek other shelter,” said Marc Flake, spokesman for Tarrant County.

Curry said she did not think the family was getting any help from FEMA.

B. Glen Whitley, the county commissioner whose area includes Grapevine, called the deaths a tragedy.

“I can assure you that Sandy had been trying to work with the landlords and the apartment associations about making sure that if someone got to the eviction stage that we would arrange for additional assistance and someplace where they could go.”

The apartment complex owner could not be reached for comment.

“It’s very tragic. It’s very disappointing that this has happened,” Whitley said.