Police said the case began outside a Glendale bar and ended at a Phoenix home.
GLENDALE, Ariz. — A mother killed her two children and herself early Monday after police said she fired at her husband outside a Glendale bar and then drove to a Phoenix home.
The killings left a 10-year-old boy, an 18-month-old girl and their mother dead, police said. A woman who was shot at the bar was hospitalized and is expected to survive. Investigators in Glendale and Phoenix are handling separate parts of the case, which remained active Monday.
Glendale police were called just after midnight to Tailgaters Sports Bar & Grill near 61st Avenue and Bell Road after a man reported that his wife had shot at him. Officers said the woman arrived at the bar, fired shots and left in a gray SUV. Police found another woman with a gunshot wound to the back of the head. Phoenix Police Sgt. Lorraine Fernandez said the husband was not injured.
The man later told officers his wife had sent a message saying she was going to hurt their children. Police said he identified a Phoenix home near 49th Avenue and Paradise Lane, where his wife and children were believed to be. Officers from both cities went to the area. A second message included a photo of one child bleeding from the head, police said. Glendale officers entered the home about 2:30 a.m.
Inside, officers found the boy, the toddler and their mother dead from apparent gunshot wounds. Police said the mother was the suspect in both shootings. Authorities had not released the names of the mother or children by Monday afternoon, and no motive had been determined. Police also said it was not clear whether the woman shot at the bar was a bystander or had another connection to the case.
Fernandez said investigators checked for earlier police reports tied to the Phoenix home and found no prior domestic violence calls or behavioral health calls there. She called the scene difficult for officers, detectives and firefighters. “No one wants to see harm caused to children,” Fernandez said. She said the children were “what we show up for work to protect every day.”
Phoenix police are leading the investigation into the deaths at the home. Glendale police are investigating the shooting outside the bar. Investigators were still working Monday at both scenes, gathering evidence and reviewing what happened between the first call after midnight and the discovery of the bodies more than two hours later.
Residents near the Phoenix home described the area as quiet and said the large police response was shocking. One neighbor told a local station he regularly walks his dog in the neighborhood and was surprised to see such a heavy law enforcement presence. Another resident said he had not seen anything like it there before.
The case remained open Monday, with police saying more information would be released after investigators notify family members and confirm the timeline.
Author note: Last updated May 25, 2026.