Daughter dies after being taken to hospital as Modesto police and neighbours search for reasons behind New Year’s Day deaths

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

Police said on Friday a fourth victim had died after a man shot his wife and grown children and then himself at the family’s home in northern California.

Modesto police spokeswoman Heather Graves said officers responded late on New Year’s Day to a 911 call from a man saying he had killed his family. Investigators found two men and a woman dead inside the house. The man’s daughter was found alive and underwent surgery, but she later died.

Graves says it appeared that 57-year-old Stephen Mingham shot his 56-year-old wife, Janet Mingham; 33-year-old son, Chad Mingham; and 34-year-old daughter, Nicole Mingham.

The initial investigation shows Stephen Mingham then shot himself.

Graves says that police haven’t determined the motive.

Modesto is a city of 200,000 people about 70 miles southeast of Sacramento.