A 64-year-old Florida man fatally shot and killed his terminally ill wife and stepdaughter and then called 911 before taking his own life, authorities said. The man told a dispatcher that caring for the women had become overwhelming.
On Wednesday morning, Thomas Schultz told a dispatcher that the family was “in an impossible situation with no way out,” according to Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister.
Schultz asked the dispatcher to send officers to “secure the residence,” the sheriff said.
“As she tries to even engage in conversation, he says, ‘I have to go, I’m fixing to shoot myself,’” Chronister said.
Responding officers arrived soon after and discovered Shultz dead on the back porch, with a revolver next to him, the sheriff said. They found his wife’s body in one bedroom. The stepdaughter was found dead in a hospital bed with a feeding tube in another room.
Family members told investigators that both women had terminal illnesses, the sheriff said.
A nearby neighbor, Troy Quinn, told the Tampa Bay Times that Schultz had recently shared a bit about being a caretaker to both women.
“He was saying it’s kind of stressful, kind of getting overwhelming,” Quinn said. “I said, ‘I’m here for you if you ever need to talk, and if there’s anything I can do, let me know.’ He said he would.”
Quinn said he woke up Wednesday morning and saw deputies at his neighbor’s home.
“I was numb. It’s heartbreaking to me and my wife,” Quinn told the newspaper, “It just doesn’t seem real.”
He said Schultz was retired from the Air Force and loved working in the yard of the ranch style home.
In his news conference, the sheriff noted that May is Mental Health Awareness Month.
“There is no such thing as ‘an impossible situation’ with no way out,” Chronister said. “There is always hope, there is always help. It’s OK not to be OK; it’s just not OK not to ask for help.”
