Coroner: Deaths of mother, 2 kids confirmed murder-suicide

STRASBURG, Pa. – Authorities say autopsies have confirmed that a Pennsylvania mother shot her two young children and then herself before the bodies were found in their burning home.

Dr. Stephen Diamantoni, the Lancaster County coroner, ruled the deaths of 40-year-old Carola Arnau and her two children a murder-suicide after autopsies Wednesday morning.

He says Arnau shot her 10-year-old daughter multiple times in the head and her 4-year-old son multiple times in the body.

Emergency responders called to the Strasburg home at about 3:20 a.m. Tuesday found the bodies in their beds in a bedroom. The family dog was also found dead. Officials said the fire was deliberately set.

District Attorney Craig Stedman told reporters Tuesday that the “only small comfort” was that the children appeared to have been shot in their sleep.