REESE SHAFFETT (and his parents) - 5 yo -(2010) Livingston LA

Deputies found three bodies in a rural home Friday afternoon after
receiving a frantic 911 call from a relative of the family, the
Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office reported.
A young boy, his mother and his father had been
shot to death in what investigators believe to have been a double murder
and suicide, Chief Deputy Jason Ard said.
The child’s grandmother stopped a school bus
carrying another sibling before the bus arrived at the home, said B.J.
Wheat, a friend of the family who was at the scene.
The grandmother received a phone call from her
son-in-law saying he had just killed his son and wife, from whom he was
separated, Wheat said.
Ard identified the bodies as those of Reese
Shaffett, 5; Courtney Triche Shaffett, 33; and Joseph S. Shaffett, 39.
Ard said that shortly before 3 p.m., officials
received a call from a relative who said Joseph Shaffett had called and
said he had shot his wife and son and was going to shoot himself. Ard
said he could not immediately identify the caller.
All of the bodies were found in the same room of
the house, Ard said.
A 12-gauge shotgun and a .38- caliber pistol were
found, and both had been fired, said Perry Rushing, chief of operations
for the Sheriff’s Office.
Other than police crime-scene tape and officers
standing near the front steps, the house nestled next to a wooded area
had a serene setting.
A swing set, a trampoline and a basketball goal
stood unused, while the family pet whined as it lay near its doghouse.
Gradually, family members and friends began to
gather at the site, which sits apart from any nearby residences.
The scene of the shootings is near a park on King
George Bay Road off La. 444 between French Settlement and Livingston.
“Words can’t describe the feeling that we are
going through right now as investigators,” Ard said shortly after the
bodies were removed from the house at 5:40 p.m. “You can see it on the
faces of the investigators and the family.”
A complete investigation, including autopsies, will be conducted,
but
it appears that Joseph Shaffett shot his wife and son and then himself,
Ard said.
He said the Sheriff’s Office is working closely
with the Livingston Parish Coroner’s Office,
which pronounced the three
people dead at the scene.

Murder-suicide near French Settlement



Posted: Mar 12, 2010 3:47 PM CST
Updated: Mar 17, 2010 5:54 AM CDT


FRENCH SETTLEMENT, LA (WAFB) - A Livingston Parish couple and their son are dead after a murder-suicide near French Settlement.

The bodies of Joseph Shannon Shaffett, 39, Courtney Triche Shaffett, 33, and five-year-old Reese Shaffett were found by sheriff's deputies shortly before 3 p.m. Friday at a home on King George Bay Road.

According to reports, it appears Joseph Shaffett shot his wife and son, then himself.

"Words can't describe the feeling we're going through now. Let's not forget there are family members involved in this. Sisters, brothers, moms and dads, so it's just horrible," said Chief Deputy Jason Ard with the Livingston Parish Sheriff's Office.

Ard said it is still too early in the investigation to tell why Shaffett may have shot his family. The Shaffett's have an older son, who was not home at the time of the shooting.

http://www.wafb.com/story/12132390/murder-suicide-near-french-settlement?redirected=true