Mother fatally shoots daughter before turning gun on herself, St. Tammany sheriff says

MANDEVILLE, La. (WVUE) - Deputies in St. Tammany Parish responded Tuesday (Oct. 18) morning to an incident that they are describing as a murder-suicide, according to Sheriff Randy Smith’s office.

Deputies say that a woman called 911 around 8:30 a.m. saying she had just shot her daughter and was about to shoot herself. The dispatcher said that what immediately followed was the sound of a gunshot.

When deputies arrived at the residence in the 700 block of Lane Street, they say they found two females dead on the scene from apparent gunshot wounds.

The parish coroner’s office identified the victims as Tara Book, 43, and her 23-year-old daughter, Brittany Buras.

Neighbors say they saw Book frequently but never expected this.

“Still mind blown about it,” Lori Thomas told Fox 8. “We just don’t see these kinds of things out there. Many prayers for the family. They seemed very nice, never hostile.”

“It does bother me being this close to home,” Brent Raccuglia says. “I moved here for a better life... to have this right across the street is pretty troublesome.”

An autopsy was performed Wednesday and the coroner’s office determined both Book and Buras died from a gunshot wound. The coroner ruled Buras’ death a homicide and Book’s a suicide.

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