Son Killed Parents, Sister In Attack: Authorities
MISSION VIEJO, Calif. (AP) — A man killed his parents and 15-year-old sister with a shotgun then turned it on himself in their suburban Southern California home earlier this week, but the motive for the attack remained a mystery, authorities said Thursday.
Michael Sheer, 21, killed his father, Mark Harrison Sheer, 55; his mother, Lydia Ann Sheer, 54, and his sister, Amy Joanne Sheer, according to a statement from the Orange County Sheriff's Department. They apparently died early Monday at their home in Mission Viejo, authorities said.
Deputies went to the upscale neighborhood around 3 a.m. after receiving reports that a man was yelling and shots might have been fired but couldn't confirm the reports after patrolling for several minutes, the Sheriff's Department said.
A relative found the bodies on Tuesday, more than 24 hours later.
Michael Sheer had attended Saddleback Valley Christian High School in San Juan Capistrano and played football as a freshman in 2007, the Orange County Register reported (http://bit.ly/1o1FwRU ).
He also loved bodybuilding, neighbor L.J. Otto said.
The Sheers were a "good Christian family" who homeschooled their children for elementary school, Otto said earlier this week. Amy Sheer had just started as a freshman this year at a private Lutheran school, she said.
"The mom was a homemaker, always making cookies," Otto recalled. "She was so cute. I came over here for Valentine's Day and she still had her Christmas trees up and . she said, 'it's Christmas all year round. We love to celebrate.'
"It was just one of those all-American families. This is a complete shock to me, a complete shock," Otto said.
Sheriff's officials said there was no history of previous calls to the home. The newspaper said Michael Sheer's only criminal record involved three speeding tickets since 2009.
Mark Sheer was a business consultant who offered seminars for financial professionals. He also taught Bible study at a Lutheran church.
"They were literally the nicest family I ever met in my life," 21-year-old Kendra Leach, who knew the family through Mount of Olives Lutheran Church, told the Register.
Mission Viejo is a city of about 95,000 about 50 miles southeast of Los Angeles.
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