Five children have been left orphaned days before Christmas after their father shot their mom before turning the gun on himself in a suspected murder-suicide.
Local tradesman Blase Raia, 39, and his wife Brooke Raia, 34, were found amid a bloody scene at their home near Altoona, Pennsylvania, Tuesday evening.
Logan Township Police Chief Dave Hoover told the Altoona Mirror officers believe Blase shot his wife in the head with a handgun following a ‘domestic dispute’ in the basement of their home on the 600 block of South Dartmouth Lane.
Four of the children were home at the time of the incident, and a fifth came back shortly afterward. The cops were called at around 7.30pm.
State police arrived and took photographs of the scene, which they turned over to the Logan Township PD, Hoover said. The coroner’s office removed the couple’s bodies on the same evening.
Five children have been left orphaned days before Christmas after their father Blase Raia shot their mom Brooke Raia, formerly Zimmerman, before turning the gun on himself in a suspected murder-suicide. (Pictured: a family photograph shared on a fundraiser for the children)
Logan officers have been interviewing the minor children along with others who interacted with the couple in the hours before they died.
‘We’re trying to backtrack — fill in the day,’ Hoover said, adding police have not yet fully ruled out the possibility of third-party involvement. ‘We’re trying to figure out a motive.’
Brooke Raia, formerly Zimmerman, was a caring mother who worked two jobs to support her children, according to her obituary. She managed a local chiropractor’s office along with shifts at an Amazon warehouse.
‘Brooke loved spending time with family, especially with her boys, Kamden and Easton and also playing in alumni basketball games with her former Blue Pirate teammates, known as “The Bad Moms Club”,’ the Bolger Funeral Home tribute reads.
‘She also enjoyed vacationing with her family, some of her favorite places were the beach, the Caribbean and going to Atlanta to watch the Braves.’
Blase worked as a machinist gang-leader at the Juniata Locomotive Shop of Norfolk Southern, and enjoyed motorcycles, drag racing, hunting, bowling and spending time with his children, according to his obituary.
Jim Patterson, a former colleague, told the Altoona Mirror Blase was a ‘nice guy’ and ‘a good worker’. ‘He seemed well liked by his fellow workers,’ Patterson said.
‘My prayers and thoughts are for the survivors — the kids and the parents.’
Local tradesman Blase Raia, 39, worked as a machinist gang-leader at the Juniata Locomotive Shop of Norfolk Southern, and enjoyed motorcycles, drag racing, hunting, bowling and spending time with his children, according to his obituary
Brooke Raia, formerly Zimmerman, was a caring mother who worked two jobs to support her children, according to her obituary. She managed a local chiropractor’s office along with shifts at an Amazon warehouse
Another friend of Blase, Donny Algieri, said they used to drag-race together and he created a GoFundMe page for the five children that has raised almost $60,000.
A family photograph was shared along with the fundraiser, showing the Raia couple smiling together surrounded by their five children at the beach.
‘I am organizing this collection for Blase and Brooke’s five children who tragically lost both of their parents 5 days before Christmas,’ the fundraiser reads.
‘While I’m sure Christmas is the last thing on their minds they deserve our support, they need to know that both the racing community and their family stands behind them.
‘Help me let these children know we are here for them. I know times are hard for people especially around this time of the year, but anything will help.’
Brooke also came from a racing family, according to the Altoona Mirror, and her father was a well-known motorcycle racer who became an announcer at a regional speedway.
Blair County Children, Youth and Family Services has placed the children with other family members, Hoover said.