Tracy Connor, Daily Beast
Texas police checking a home early Monday made a horrifying discovery: six members of a family, spread across three generations, shot to death.
What they learned next was just as shocking: It was a murder-suicide carried out by two brothers, one of whom posted the plan on social media.
“Hey everyone. I killed myself and my family,” Farhan Towhid, 19, reportedly wrote in the note, which bragged about how easy it was for him and his 21-year-old brother Tarvin to buy guns.
“If I’m going to die, I might as well get some attention.”
If you or a loved one are struggling with suicidal thoughts, please reach out to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741.
The slayings in Allen sent shockwaves through the tight-knit Bangladeshi American community to which the family belonged.
“The mom always talked about the boys, how they’re good in studies, how they’re getting into good schools with scholarships,” Sahnewaz Hossain told the Dallas Morning News.
“Every time I would come home, I’d tell my kids how good they were doing. They were a fun-loving, simple family.”
The victims were identified as Towhidul Islam, 54; his wife, Iren Islam, 56; grandmother Altafun Nessa, 77; and Farbin Towhid, the twin sister of Farhan.
“It looks like two teenage sons entered into an agreement that they were going to commit suicide and that they were going to take their family members with them,” Allen Police Sgt. John Felty told local radio station KRLD.
Farhan apparently wrote a suicide note in Google Docs and posted it to his Instagram, several news outlets reported. In it, he said he and his older brother—both former students at the University of Texas at Austin—suffered from severe depression.
The note—which includes bizarre references to the TV show The Office—claimed that the brothers decided to kill the rest of the family because they believed any surviving relatives would be “miserable” if the brothers only took their own lives.
Police said they believe the shootings happened Saturday and someone who saw the note contacted authorities to request a check on the family. There was no record of any previous disturbances at the home.
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