LONE TREE — The Highlands Ranch mother and her two sons found dead Wednesday morning in a minivan parked in the secluded loading dock area of a closed Sports Authority store died of gunshot wounds, authorities announced Thursday.

Jennifer Marie Laber, 38, and her two sons — 3-year-old Adam and 5-year-old Ethan — were each shot one time, Lone Tree police spokesman Sgt. Tim Beals said.

Beals said Laber legally purchased a Glock 9mm handgun at a local store about 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday before going to pick up her son earlier than the dismissal time from kindergarten roughly an hour later.

She died of suspected self-inflicted gunshot wound and the gun was found in the minivan.

Police stopped short of calling the case a murder-suicide, but Beals said there are no suspects and investigators have provided no other explanation for how the three died.

Suicide Hotline If you or someone you know is feeling suicidal, immediately call 844-493-TALK (8255), which is the Colorado Crisis and Support Line. Nationally, you may call 800-273-TALK (800-273-8255). Both hotlines are staffed around the clock with certified mental health professionals.

“We’re just not ready to put that label on it yet,” Beals told reporters at a Thursday afternoon news briefing.

The Douglas County Coroner’s Office has not ruled on the manner of Adam’s and Ethan’s deaths, saying the decision is pending further investigation. Authorities also did not definitively say the Glock handgun Laber purchased Tuesday was used in the shooting deaths of the three, however, investigators did not say there was another weapon found at the scene.

“In these situations, it is so critical that we have every piece of evidence we can find,” said Jill Romann, the Douglas County coroner. “We just haven’t had all of that evidence presented yet.”

An investigation into the deaths remains ongoing, and Beals said “anything that possibly led up to this are things we are certainly looking into.”

Colorado, unlike a handful of other states, does not have a mandatory waiting period from when a gun is bought to when it is transferred to the purchaser.

The Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence says California, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois and Rhode Island have a mandatory wait time for all gun purchases. Other states — including Florida and New Jersey — have mandatory wait times specifically for handgun purchases, according to the center.

Laber and her sons were last spotted about 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday leaving Bear Canyon Elementary, driving away in the 2011 Town & Country minivan in which they all later were found.

Laber’s husband, Ryan, who is the father of the children, has been cooperating with investigators. Ryan, a supervisor at a local engineering firm, filed a missing-persons report at about 8 p.m. Tuesday.

The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office released a missing-persons bulletin about Laber and her children to law enforcement agencies in the Denver area Tuesday night. Early Wednesday morning, authorities sent pictures of the three to local media in hopes of finding them safe.

Chief Deputy Steve Johnson, of the sheriff’s office, said that when the missing-persons report came to authorities, it didn’t appear that measures — such as issuing an Amber Alert — were needed.

“At the time we were notified,” Johnson said, “there was no indication that it would come to this horrific ending. There were no red flags.”

A passer-by called police at 7:47 a.m. on Wednesday after spotting Laber’s minivan outside of the Sports Authority store near the intersection of County Line Road and Quebec, Beals said. It was not clear how long the minivan had been parked there.

“Officers responded to the scene and realized that the van that was here in the parking lot matched the description of the van that was reported associated with three missing people from the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office,” Beals said.

Dispatch recordings captured by Broadcastify.com show how officers first got the call.

“(Reporting party) stated that he saw or found a missing van with a woman and kids in it,” a dispatcher called into the police radio Wednesday morning, sending an officer to the scene. “He has not approached the vehicle at this time.”

A few minutes later, an officer arrived.

“I’ve got three wounded,” an officer said on the radio. Laber and her sons were dead.

RJ Sangosti, The Denver Post Police investigate at parking lot at County Line Road and Quebec Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2016. Three bodies were found inside a minivan parked in the loading dock area of an abandoned Sports Authority store.

RJ Sangosti, The Denver Post Lone Tree police have found multiple bodies believed to be the family of a woman and her two young boys, November 30, 2016. Three bodies were found inside a minivan parked in the loading dock area of an abandoned Sports Authority store.

RJ Sangosti, The Denver Post Lone Tree police have found multiple bodies believed to be the family of a woman and her two young boys, November 30, 2016. Three bodies were found inside a minivan parked in the loading dock area of an abandoned Sports Authority store.



RJ Sangosti, The Denver Post Lone Tree police have found multiple bodies believed to be the family of a woman and her two young boys, November 30, 2016. Three bodies were found inside a minivan parked in the loading dock area of an abandoned Sports Authority store.

RJ Sangosti, The Denver Post Lone Tree police have found multiple bodies believed to be the family of a woman and her two young boys, November 30, 2016. Three bodies were found inside a minivan parked in the loading dock area of an abandoned Sports Authority store.

RJ Sangosti, The Denver Post A child's shoe is marked in the parking lot where Lone Tree police have found multiple bodies believed to be the family of a woman and her two young boys, November 30, 2016. Three bodies were found inside a minivan parked in the loading dock area of an abandoned Sports Authority store.



RJ Sangosti, The Denver Post Three bodies were found inside a minivan parked in the loading dock area of an abandoned Sports Authority store on November 30, 2016.

John Leyba, The Denver Post Douglas County sheriff outside a home on Hibiscus Drive, Highlands Ranch, Colo.

John Leyba, The Denver Post Douglas county sheriff's detectives leave the home of Jennifer Laber on Hibiscus Drive, Highlands Ranch, Colo. Laber and her two children were found dead in a minivan in Lone Tree Wednesday morning.



John Leyba, The Denver Post Neighbors walk arm in arm after learning Jennifer Laber and her two children were found dead in a mini van in Lone Tree Wednesday morning, Nov. 29, 2016.

Updated on Dec. 2, 2016 at 2:55 p.m. The following information has been corrected: Because of a source’s error, Jennifer Laber’s age was incorrectly reported in this story. She was 38.