Police say a 39-year-old Rhode Island man shot and killed his seven-month-pregnant wife and two children before committing suicide.
Nicholas D. Arruda, 39, Danielle L. Arruda, and their children Adele, 5, and Felex, 2, were discovered dead at their West Greenwich home on Friday, Jan. 3, according to a police statement.
During a press conference on Wednesday, January 8, West Greenwich Police Chief Richard N. Ramsay stated that Nicholas shot and killed his family before killing himself.
“I wish there could be an explanation to help you make sense of this horrific act,” Ramsay told reporters. “But the truth is we may never know why it happened.”
The shooting took place between 8 p.m. on New Year’s Day and 5:20 a.m. on January 2 inside the family’s Cheyenne Trail home.
The family’s bodies were discovered on Jan. 3, when officers went to check on Danielle, who had not shown up for work on Thursday and had not called on Friday.
According to the Boston Globe, Ramsay reported “suspicious circumstances at the home and forced entry into the house.”
That’s when officers discovered the gruesome scene, which Ramsay described as “one of the worst” he’s seen in his 30-plus-year career.
“Once inside the home, officers immediately noticed the bodies of two young children, an adult male and a pregnant female,” according to Ramsay. “It was apparent there were no signs of life to any of the bodies and that all four had suffered fatal gunshot wounds.”
Ramsay also stated that investigators found no evidence of a struggle among the victims and that Nicholas died from a self-inflicted single gunshot wound, with an M4-type semiautomatic weapon lying next to his body.
According to Ramsay, West Greenwich police received no prior indication of trouble at the Arruda family home.
“They lived together, and all indications from family and friends were that they loved each other and they loved their children,” according to Ramsay.
Danielle’s 26-year-old cousin, Mikayla Ruffner Cihat, described the situation as unexpected. Cihat also told the outlet that she had recently spent Christmas with Danielle and her family.
Cihat had also set up a GoFundMe page to help with memorial services and support their family.
“Danielle was loving, smart, caring, and the funniest person you’ll ever meet,” Cihat wrote about her cousin on the GoFundMe page. “She would light up any room she walked in, and always had the best stories to share and the best solutions if you came to her with a problem.”
The campaign’s goal is $25,000, and it has already raised more than $20,000.
If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
