Brian Short: Minnesota Murder-Suicide Leaves Family Of Five Dead In Greenwood

Police are trying to figure out why Brian Short shot his wife and three children before turning a gun on himself. The Minnesota murder-suicide has left many questions unanswered, and many neighbors shocked that such an incident could have happened in their Greenwood neighborhood.

In a related report by the Inquisitr, Brian Short is identified as the founder of allnurses.com and last year he described his line of work as a “tremendously rewarding profession.” Now, investigators are trying to figure out what changed Short’s mind so dramatically that he would kill himself and his entire family.

The website has provided a message about the Greenwood murder-suicide.

“It is with great regret and a very heavy heart that I have to share some very sad news with you. There is no easy way to say this. … Brian and his family have been killed. The news is calling it an apparent murder-suicide. … No matter what the details are, the results are still the same … a very tragic loss for the extended families, friends, co-workers and this nursing community.”

Based upon the success of his company, Brian Short owned a $2 million, 5,600-square-foot mansion on Lake Minnetonka. According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Short grabbed a shotgun and went to his children’s bedrooms, where he shot a sleeping 17-year-old Cole in the head. Brian then proceeded to kill his 15 and 14-year-old daughters, Madison and Brooklyn.

Startled by the shotgun blast, 48-year-old Karen Short tried to call 911 with a cellphone, but her husband tracked her down and killed her in another bedroom with a shot to the head. Short then went to the eight car garage, where he turned the shotgun on himself.

Neighbor Doug Plocek expressed how unexpected it was to find police cars blocking his street after the Minnesota murder-suicide occurred.

“They were good neighbors,” Plocek said, according to the Associated Press. “The neighbors went into shock. To me, there was no indication whatsoever how that could have happened. This whole thing, we’re trying to wrap our heads around it. We’ve never even had a break-in. To have something of this magnitude and it involves children — it just tears me apart.”

South Lake Minnetonka interim Police Chief Mike Siitari confirmed that Brian Short’s shotgun was found in the house, and he described the case as complex and “gruesome.”

“There are many moving parts in an investigation of this magnitude,” he said. “We will do our best to work through this tragedy.”

Police are uncertain what the motive could be for the Minnesota murder-suicide, although financial issues are suspected. Brian Short’s company was facing a federal lawsuit from a competitor, who claimed allnurses.com “failed to delete anonymous defamatory comments from its website and was sending business to a competitor.” Several of the children’s friends claimed the family of five was planning on selling and moving from their house soon since it was “too big for them.”

Roman Peysakhovich, owner of Polina’s Cleaning Services, also said the family stopped their service with no explanation.

“It was really strange; out of nowhere they said they were stopping,” he said.”They seemed like a great family. Everything was perfect.”

[Photo via Facebook]