The deaths of a 31-year-old woman and two girls left a school community grieving as police continued searching for a motive.
PLAINVILLE, Conn. — Grief spread across Plainville over the weekend after police said a man shot and killed his girlfriend and two children inside their home, leaving school officials, neighbors and relatives to reckon with a sudden and deeply personal loss.
Authorities identified the victims as Felisha Matthews, 31, her 12-year-old daughter, Mileena Matthews, and 4-year-old Ava King. Police said the suspected shooter, 27-year-old Patrick King, died after shooting himself Friday as officers tried to end a standoff at the family’s Milford Street home. The deaths carried immediate consequences beyond the crime scene. Mileena attended the Middle School of Plainville, prompting school support services, while neighbors began building a small memorial outside the house. The killings also raised painful questions about what warning signs may have existed and why a family that neighbors described as normal ended in such violence.
According to police, the crisis came to light when King’s sister called dispatchers shortly before 4 p.m. Friday and said her brother had told her he had already killed his girlfriend and their 4-year-old daughter and intended to kill himself. Officers responded quickly, secured the neighborhood and tried to make contact with King inside the home. A negotiator eventually reached him by phone, and the standoff stretched for about two hours. Police said officers then used pepper gas in an attempt to force a surrender. Instead, King shot himself, Chief Christopher Vanghele said. Officers entered, tried to save him and took him to a hospital, where he later died. By then, police said, the three victims had already been found dead inside the house.
The human toll became clearer as officials released the names of the dead. Felisha Matthews was 31. Ava King was 4. Mileena Matthews was 12 and, according to police, the child of Felisha Matthews from a previous relationship. Vanghele said Mileena was a student in town, a detail that widened the circle of grief almost immediately. School administrators were contacted, and support services were arranged for students and staff. Police have not publicly described the final hours inside the home, and they have not said whether anyone else was expected there that afternoon. They also have not explained what may have led King to target the victims. Investigators say they are still sorting through evidence inside the residence and reviewing the family’s circumstances before the shootings.
By Saturday, the home had become both a crime scene and a place of mourning. Balloons, flowers and stuffed animals appeared on the porch, turning a residential address into a public marker of loss. Neighbor Tim Sunderland remembered the family in ordinary terms, saying the little girl often seemed happy as she headed down the sidewalk to school. Police said the family was new to the neighborhood, which may explain why some nearby residents knew little about them. Even so, the shock was immediate. In a town the size of Plainville, the killing of a mother and two girls can ripple through classrooms, workplaces, youth programs and extended families in a single day. Public officials acknowledged that reality as they began framing the deaths not only as a criminal case, but also as a wound to the wider community.
The investigation is now centered on the evidence left behind. Police said they recovered multiple guns from the home and that the firearm used in the incident was legally registered to King. Authorities also said he had a permit to carry. What remains unclear is why he opened fire, whether there were prior warning signs and whether any earlier calls for help had brought police or social services to the home. Because the suspected gunman is dead, the case will not move toward a criminal trial, but the procedural work is still substantial. Detectives are expected to complete forensic testing, review communications and continue interviews with relatives and others who may help fill in the family’s recent history. Medical examiner findings are also expected to help formalize the sequence and causes of death.
Town leaders used careful language as they tried to speak to the scale of the tragedy. Vanghele said the deaths marked a dark day for Plainville and for the state. Town Council Chair Christopher Wazorko said the loss cut deeply in a close-knit community standing together in sorrow and compassion. Those official statements were echoed by the scene outside the house, where the memorial suggested how quickly residents had shifted from watching a police operation to mourning three lives lost. The story carried a second layer of pain on Sunday, when a dispatch center said Felisha Matthews had once worked there as a dispatcher, adding another group of colleagues and former co-workers to those grieving her death.
Police said Sunday that the motive had not been identified and the investigation was still active, with the next updates likely to come as forensic reviews and interviews produce a fuller account of what happened Friday.
Author note: Last updated March 29, 2026.