Victims identified in apparent murder-suicide

The victims of a fatal double shooting early Friday now believed to be a murder-suicide have been identified as Franklin McConnell Jr., 31, and his wife, Jessica McConnell,

27, while a third gunshot victim has been identified as James Long, 41, the Garland County Sheriff’s Department said in a release Tuesday.

Investigators have concluded Franklin McConnell shot his wife and Long inside a camping trailer located in the

6400 block of Park Avenue shortly before 4 a.m. Friday and then shot and killed himself. Long survived his wounds and is currently in recovery, the release said.

According to an earlier news release, the sheriff’s department received a call of shots heard and someone yelling for help at 3:49 a.m. Friday in the 6400 block of Park Avenue.

Deputies arrived at 3:56 a.m. and located an injured male, a deceased female, and a deceased male.

“All of the victims had what appeared to be gunshot wounds,” the release said. No other information was initially released about the victims. The deceased were sent to the state crime lab to determine a cause of death and Long was transported to a local hospital for treatment.

A neighbor who asked not to be identified told The Sentinel-Record she believed the shooting was related to a domestic dispute and were committed by a family member, now identified as Franklin McConnell.

“I’ve met him a couple times and he didn’t seem like that kind of person, but you never know what kind of person anybody is. About a year ago we were living over there and when I first met him, him and his wife seemed really nice and they were OK,” she said.

“He apparently parked down the road and then walked this way towards the trailer, so they didn’t know he was coming. …

“It’s crazy how people are. There was a break in between the shots, there first were three and then there was two. So I think maybe he shot them, and was like, wait, what did I do? And then shot himself,” she said.

“Apparently he had posted some sad stuff on his Facebook before it happened.”