Five days after the tragic murder-suicide in Bell, Florida, Gilchrist County authorities released Don Spirit’s 911 call.
“I just shot my daughter and shot all my grandkids,” he said calmly to dispatch at about 4 p.m. Thursday. “And I’ll be sitting on my step, and when you get here, I’m gonna shoot myself.”
After confirming Spirit’s identity, the dispatcher asked him what kind of gun he had.
“It doesn’t matter what kind of gun I got. They’re all dead,” Spirit said. “And when you get here, I’ll shoot myself. And then you’ll figure out what kind of gun it is.”
Upon arrival, officers made brief contact with Spirit before he turned the .45 caliber pistol on himself, according to a Gilchrist County Sheriff’s Office press release.
Police said the children’s bodies were each found in different places throughout the house, and the bodies of Spirit and his daughter Sarah were found separately outside the house.
All eight deaths were the result of the gun shots, a preliminary autopsy report confirmed. The final autopsy report will be completed in several weeks.
Authorities are currently investigating how Spirit, a convicted felon, obtained the weapon used.
They have not determined a motive.
[A version of this story ran on page 1 on 9/24/2014]
