A “depressed” mother in New Hampshire shot and killed her husband and two young children before taking her own life, just days after she posted a haunting video on social media, where she spoke about her ongoing struggles, authorities said.
Emily Long, 34, was found dead in her New Hampshire home along with her husband, Ryan Long, 48, and their two children — Parker, 8, and Ryan, 6 on Monday night. Their youngest child, just 3 years old, was found safe and unharmed. both children died from gunshot wounds to the head, while the father — who was battling terminal cancer — sustained multiple gunshot wounds, according to the state’s chief medical examiner.
Planned Elaborately Before Killing
Emily had been sharing her husband’s struggle with terminal brain cancer through a series of increasingly disturbing TikTok posts, where she revealed that her mental health was falling apart and that she was overwhelmed by severe depression.
“It was a perfect family as far as we knew,” neighbor Bevy Ketel told WBZ-TV. “It’s just shocking. We didn’t see it coming.”
TikTok
The medical examiner told the Daily Mail that, based on the information currently available, it appears that in the early hours of Monday, August 18, 2025, Emily Long used a handgun from the home to fatally shoot Ryan Long and their two children, Parker and Ryan, before turning the weapon on herself.
“While investigators are becoming aware of various concerns/issues ongoing in the household at the time of the event in question, people should avoid speculating that this event was caused by a single reason or stressor.”
Police arrived at the home on Monday night after a chilling 911 call reported several deaths inside the home. Officials said a gun was found near the victims’ bodies.
The couple’s three-year-old — the only survivor of the tragedy — was found safe inside the house and has since been placed in the care of relatives.
Motive Behind Murder and Suicide
On TikTok, Emily had been sharing her family’s story following her husband’s diagnosis with glioblastoma, a severe and incurable form of brain cancer. In her final video, posted just two days before the tragedy, Emily spoke about the difficulties she and her children were facing because of her husband’s illness, while also explained that she was committed to work on her mental health.
TikTok
“All I want to do is hide under a blanket with my kids, but that isn’t healthy for them and it’s not healthy for me,” she said.
“Today I decided I need to make a conscious effort to shift my mindset. I’m getting out of this depression whether I want to or not. I am determined to create normalcy.”
In other videos, Emily opened up about the heartbreak of having to tell her children that their father’s condition was terminal. She explained that her two older kids had a clearer understanding of the illness and its outcome compared to their youngest.
Authorities are still awaiting autopsy findings to officially confirm the causes of death, but the case is currently being investigated as a murder-suicide.
“One of the biggest questions they have right now is motive, why?” Assistant Attorney General Ben Agati told WCAX.
“And I think that’s probably one of the more difficult things that they are trying to grasp to understand how this came to be.”
Ryan was a psychologist at Oyster River Middle School in Durham, while Emily was the director of operations for the Wing-Itz restaurant chain.
