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Man kills 2-year-old son, self in murder-suicide

Posted at 4:08 PM, Jun 27, 2019
and last updated 2019-06-27 18:08:07-04

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    Hall County, GA (WGCL) — A 2-year-old boy is dead after his father shot him then turned the gun on himself in an overnight murder suicide.

Hall County Sheriff’s deputies responded around 12:30 a.m. to home in the 4800 block of Poplar Springs Road after reports of a domestic violence incident involving a man assaulting a 23-year-old woman and leaving the residence with the couple’s 2-year-old son.

Deputies spotted the man, identified as Christian Castro, 24, entering a property adjacent to his home on Poplar Springs Road.

Deputies said as they approached the car on foot, Castro fired several gunshots at them, but no one was injured.

“Deputies could see Castro’s son sitting on his lap in the car,” spokesman Derreck Booth wrote in a press release.

Booth said deputies did not return fire out of concern for the safety of the child.

Castro remained in his vehicle for an extended period, driving around in a pasture, as deputies set up a perimeter. A hostage negotiator’s numerous attempts to contact Castro by phone were unsuccessful.

At approximately 3:30 a.m., deputies say they heard gunshots coming from Castro’s vehicle. When a SWAT team approached the car, they discovered that Castro had shot his son, then turned the gun on himself.

The incident remains under investigation.

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