Studio driver kills wife, 2 kids and himself in L.A. home
A MOVIE STUDIO driver shot and killed his wife and two children before turning the gun on himself in their Southern California home, authorities said.
Deputies from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department found the bodies shortly before 7 a.m. Friday after getting a call from someone concerned about the family, said Lt. Rodney Moore.
Neighbors identified the family members as Michael Birnkrant, 51, his wife, Amy, 47 and their two children — Drew, 20, and Sean, 11.
Investigators found a gun Birnkrant’s body, KTLA reported.
The bodies were found in different rooms across the Santa Clarita house, Moore said. They were all shot in the chest, authorities said.
Moore said none of the neighbors reported hearing gunshots,
It was not immediately clear how long the bodies had been in the home before they were found.
Birnkrant was a a driver for a movie studio, according to KHTS-TV. near
He worked as a movie set driver for top Hollywood directors including Steven Spielberg and J.J. Abrams on major productions, including “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” and “Star Trek,” according to IMDB.
His wife, Amy Birnkrant, a former public school teacher, ran a daycare center called Birnkrant Family Daycare Home out of the family’s house.
It was not open at the time of the shooting, according to reports.
Residents said many children in the neighborhood began their education at Birnkrant’s at-home school, where she would teach 12 students at a time.
Other parents of Birnkrant’s students broke down in tears as they stood near the home, which had quickly become a crime scene.
Scarlette Barajas said she was a classmate of Drew Birnkrant. She remembered Drew as a popular girl in school who was on the track team.
“A lot of people were friends with her,” she said.
Drew was a student at College of the Canyons.
Authorities responded to a welfare check requested by a friend of Amy’s who had not seen her for a few days, officials said.
Neighbors described Amy and the kids as well-liked members of a tight-knit community.
Birnkrant, who was also a driver on “Mission: Impossible III,” and “Little Fockers,” was more aloof, they told KTLA.
Neighbor Sandy Barajas called shooting “devastating.”
“Heartbreaking ... those children are gone, they’re gone,” Barajas said. “That family, a family of four ... they’re gone.”
Social media photos showed a happy, close-knit family, including Instagram photos from a beach vacation and a graduation.
Neighbor Cindy Rolow said she would often see the father and son walking through the neighborhood holding hands.
“We always thought that was cute,” she said.
“This is just awful, it's horrific,” Rolow said. the