Murphy – A former local man accused of murdering his wife, two sons and parents-in-law inside their California home on July 10 reportedly called 911 and blamed his wife for the shootings.
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Shane Killian, 54, of Alameda, Calif., told a 911 dispatcher, “My wife has shot all of us and shot my children,” according to the Mercury News newspaper of San Jose, Calif.
Alameda city police were called to Killian’s home in the 400 block of Kitty Hawk Road at 9 p.m. July 10.
Killian stepped outside a few moments later and was met by police, who took him into custody. He was later charged with five counts of murder by Alameda County prosecutors and is being held without bail.
The victims were Killian’s wife, Nathalie Killian, 36; their 6-year-old son, William; their 15-month-old son, Wesley; and Nathalie Killian’s parents, Miguel Angel Carcamo Ramirez, 70, and Marta Elena Morales, 56. Wesley survived the initial shooting but died later at an area hospital.
‘Dying declaration’
Bleeding from gunshot wounds, Ramirez stumbled to a neighbor’s house and said he was shot by his son-in-law.
“During his dying declaration, Victim 1 identified the defendant (Killian) as the murder suspect,” according to the report obtained by San Francisco television station KRON4.
The neighbor called 911 and repeated Ramirez’s words to the dispatcher, who relayed the information to police responding to the crime scene.
When detectives confronted him with this detail, Killian allegedly recounted a new version of events where Ramirez was shot as Mrs. Killian and Morales struggled over the firearm, authorities said.
Killian added that his wife then turned the gun on herself and died of suicide. However, he couldn’t explain why he was the only one inside the home found with gunshot residue on his hands, according to local investigators.
After his arrest, Killian reportedly sat down with homicide detectives and willingly repeated the claim that his wife was responsible for the deaths, and that he’d ducked and avoided gunfire “by the grace of God” when she fired at him.
All five victims died from gunshot wounds. Killian’s wife was found lying on the floor of the home holding an unregistered semi-automatic pistol authorities believe Killian used in the shootings, the Mercury News reported.
In addition to the murder counts, prosecutors charged Killian with possessing an assault weapon (an AR-15-style rifle of the type banned in California), possessing an “unconventional” pistol, and counts of domestic violence and elder abuse.
Police allegedly found four other guns in the home and garage – two rifles and two pistols – as well as a machete, a BB gun and numerous boxes of ammunition, authorities said.
Killian was being held at a jail in Santa Rita, Calif. If convicted of five murder charges, he will face a maximum sentence of 246 years to life in prison, according to the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office. California does not have the death penalty.
Killian’s next court appearance is set for Friday, Aug. 30.
The setting
Alameda is a town of about 78,000 people on an island on the East San Francisco Bay. It is described as a small, peaceful community by Bay Area standards.
The house is about three blocks from the shoreline. It is on a residential street that backs up to a complex of ball fields, a middle school and an elementary school.
Killian is a welding inspector who worked with Pacific Gas & Electric. He once worked with the Tennessee Valley Authority when he lived in Cherokee County. His wife’s Facebook page indicated the couple married in 2019.
Killian claimed that before the shootings, he’d returned home from work around noon and drank a half-dozen beers, then rented a hotel room near his home, intending to use the hotel’s pool because it was hot outside.
He claimed his wife “overreacted” to his drinking; he expected the family to join him at the hotel, but she refused. A short time later, he claimed she began to shoot family members as he lay on their bed in another part of the house.
Before and after
Alameda Police Chief Nishant Joshi said in a news conference that the family recently moved to the residence.
“This is a tragic and sad incident,” Nishant said. “These were the actions of a coward. I know what happened – I have some idea of what happened – and this person’s actions were those of a coward.”
He promised that the family will receive the justice they deserve. He added that first responders were traumatized by the incident.
The mass shooting has been covered extensively, both nationally and by a large number of San Francisco Bay Area newspapers, radio stations and TV news.
Killian served 60 days in jail in Cherokee County for misdemeanor assault on a government official in Murphy around 2011. The incident involved a gun at a gas station and led to a high-speed car chase.
“The speeds traveled during this incident reached 125 mph in a 55 mph zone,” Ryan Cunningham, assistant chief for the Murphy Police Department, told one Bay Area television station. “Ultimately, Mr. Killian ended up wrecking his vehicle, then fled on foot and was took into custody within an hour of the incident.”