A young boy was shot after a neighbor killed his mother and injured his sister.
Grieving family members and a Catholic school in Utah said that 12-year-old Joseph and his mother Diana Hawatmeh, 39, tragically passed away. Another woman, 33, also died from the devastating incident.
Joseph’s older sister Yasmeen, 16, remained hospitalized due to severe injuries.
Police said that the incident started unfolding at 11am on Tuesday when paramedics and police were dispatched to the home in Stonelake Cove Avenue for a report of multiple gunshots.
The mother and another woman were found dead from gunshot wounds and a teenage girl seriously injured.
Officers then found the gunman identified as Jason Neo Bourne, 38, holding Hawatmeh’s son as a hostage.
Police said in a press release: “As officers attempted a de-escalation the situation, Bourne held his firearm to the juvenile’s head, resulting in an officer-involved shooting.”
Officers removed the boy from the vehicle and performed CPR but he died at the scene along with the gunman.
A spokesperson for the police department did not say whether it was a police officer or Bourne who shot the 12-year-old boy, the Daily Mail reported.
But a police statement noted that an investigation has determined that the neighbor ‘fired multiple rounds inside the vehicle.’
Marry Ann Horn, Diana’s friend, told Fox 13: “She was one of a kind. She was special. She was graceful. She was elegant. She was kind, so kind.”
The principal of Juan Diego Catholic High School, Galey Colosimo, told Deseret News: “She was a faith-fulled woman, very much a family-oriented mother and wife.”
He also described Diana as “very vivacious, very fun loving and lots of energy, a beautiful woman.”
Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends during this difficult time.
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