Estranged Daughter Starts Family Shootout, 4 Dead

Josephine Ruckinger, her husband, mother and brother all died in the chaos

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An estranged daughter and her husband showed up armed at her parents’ mobile home in rural Pennsylvania and set off a tragic family shootout Friday, leaving everyone but the woman’s father dead, authorities said.

John Frew allegedly shot and killed the assailants, Josephine and Jeffrey Ruckinger, before realizing Josephine was his own daughter — but not before his wife Roberta and son John Jr., 47, died in the chaotic shootout that ensued, the Associated Press reports.

Though the investigation is ongoing, authorities believe the Ruckingers arrived, armed with a pistol, .22-caliber semi-automatic handgun, and a sawed-off 12-gauge shotgun, planning to murder the family. The daughter, Josephine, had been separated from the family for about 20 years following a feud, a family member told the AP.

The family was watching TV after dinner when there was a knock. Josephine Ruckinger allegedly shot her mother point-blank at the door, and Jeffrey Ruckinger then killed John Frew Jr., as he reached for a weapon, before the elder Frew, 67, shot both assailants, investigators say.

[AP]