A New Hampshire mom who gunned down her cancer-stricken husband and their two children before killing herself was receiving considerable support from her family at the time, a relative said.
Emily Long, 34, blasted a single bullet into eight year-old daughter Parker and six year-old son Ryan around 5:30am at their $600,000 home in Madbury, killing both.
She killed husband Ryan, 48, with multiple gunshots before turning the gun on herself. The couple’s youngest child, aged three, was found wandering around the property unharmed by police called to the scene about three hours after the shooting.
Long had posted social media videos sharing her fears about losing Ryan, who had brain cancer, and raising three children alone. But a cousin told The Boston Globe on Tuesday that Long was being well-supported and cared for by family throughout her husband’s illness.
The cousin, who was not named, said: ‘This is why we’re just all so in shock. We have a lot of family, a lot of friends, that would do anything for them because, you know, they would do it, too.’
Ryan, a psychologist and professor husband was battling glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer with a median survival rate of just 12 to 15 months post-diagnosis.
Emily Long gunned down her husband Ryan and two of their children Parker and Ryan, seen here, inside their New Hampshire home in the early hours of Monday
Officials said Emily fired multiple shots into her husband, while killing her two kids with single fatal shots to the head. The family’s $600,000 home in Madbury is pictured
Assistant Attorney General Ben Agati said that investigators are probing the circumstances of the shooting and conceded finances and health had likely been playing on the murderess’s mind.
He said: ‘Some that involved the idea of what was going on with the money situation, with the health situation, I think the big thing is to not speculate one reason why something like this would happen
‘Homicide and suicide is usually much, much more complex than just one reason. There’s still more information we’re trying to gather to narrow down different things.’
In the family’s final days, Emily discussed their rapidly deteriorating situation on her TikTok channel, admitting she ‘knew that [she] needed to’ seek therapy.
‘I feel very, very lonely. I feel so anxious… I know that I need to see a therapist, I know that I need to ask for help… but I’m not ready to acknowledge that, I think,’ she confessed in a video shared just two weeks ago.
‘I feel so guilty that I’m not ready to get help yet, but… it is what it is, right? I know that I will one day, and I hope that I make the decision before I feel that it’s too late.’
Long said in the same video that she could ‘feel [herself] withering away’ with the knowledge that ‘this isn’t going away, this is only going to get worse.’
And as her husband’s condition worsened, Long opened up about the realization that she could one day become a single parent to three traumatized children.
Her husband had been diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer which she was documenting their journey with on TikTok
Investigators said earlier this week that they are probing the circumstances behind the killings
‘I’m doing all the bed times and by the time I’m saying goodnight to my third kid it hits me that this is going to be every single night at some point for the rest of my life,’ she said.
‘Where I’m doing all three bedtimes alone, and then I shut the door to the final kid and I’m totally by myself and I have no one to talk about my day with.’
Emily said despite trying to remain positive, she also had to ‘plan to be a widow, and plan to support your family on one income and to be a single parent of three kids and juggle all the things that come with that.
‘I’m mourning my husband, I’m mourning my marriage and it’s still there. It’s very confusing and it’s very overwhelming.’
In her last video, shared just two days before their deaths, Long explained that she and her children were struggling with her husband’s diagnosis, but that she was committed to improving her mental health.
In her last video, shared just two days before their deaths, Long explained that she and her children had been struggling with her husband’s diagnosis
‘All I want to do is hide under a blanket with my kids, but that isn’t healthy for them and it’s not healthy for me,’ she said.
‘Today I decided I need to make a conscious effort to shift my mindset. I’m getting out of this depression whether I want to or not. I am determined to create normalcy, she said.
Authorities received a 911 call reporting multiple deaths inside the home. When they arrived about 8.21pm, they found the three-year-old child inside the home, unharmed.
The surviving child is now in the custody of family as the investigation continues.
Long was a psychologist at Oyster River Middle School in Durham, while Emily worked as director of operations at restaurant chain Wing-Itz.
One of Long’s friends shared a moving tribute to the late father on Wednesday, writing: ‘As a psychologist, Ryan had a remarkable ability to understand and connect with people, offering wisdom and support to those in need.
‘His sense of humor brought joy to everyone around him, making even the toughest days a little brighter.