An Alabama father has been accused after authorities say he killed his wife, their two children, and two other children related to him this week.
Brandon Kendrick of West Blocton, 32, is suspected of fatally shooting his wife Kelsey Kendrick, 24, and four children, according to an Alabama Law Enforcement Agency announcement.
On Thursday, July 18, at around 10 p.m. local time, a shooting occurred in West Blocton, Bibb County, Alabama.
The victims also included a 2-year-old, two 6-year-olds, and one 9-year-old, two of them were “Kendrick’s children, and the other two were relatives,” according to the ALEA. Special Agents from the ALEA’s State Bureau of Investigation have since initiated a quintuple homicide investigation, and Kendrick has been arrested and placed into Bibb County Jail on no bond.
Kendrick is accused of five charges of capital murder. It is unclear whether he has legal representation.
“No further information is available as the investigation is ongoing,” the ALEA stated in its release. “Once complete, the findings will be turned over to Alabama’s 4th Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office.”
Kendrick’s arrest comes just days after what officials described as a “tragic day” of gun violence across the state. On the night of July 13, two separate shootings in Birmingham killed seven individuals and injured another ten.
The first incident occurred around 5:30 p.m. on the 1700 block of Indian Summer Drive, where three individuals were fatally shot inside a vehicle – a 28-year-old woman, her 5-year-old kid, and a 28-year-old male. The second incident occurred less than six hours later, around 11:08 p.m., at an event facility, killing four more people and injuring ten others.
Chief Scott Thurmond stated at a press conference on Sunday, July 14, that the shootings were “probably the most tragic day in my time at the Birmingham Police Department.” He described the violence as “terribly unacceptable.”