- Click to share on Facebook (Opens in a new window)
- Click to share on Twitter (Opens in a new window)
- Click here to share on LinkedIn (Opens in a new window)
- Click to email a friend (Opens in a new window)
(CNN) - An argument between a Connecticut teenager and her mother's boyfriend for smoking in the house ended in a deadly altercation, after the man shot the 15-year-old girl and her 16-year-old brother on the night of this Tuesday and then he will take his life, according to the Watertown Police Department.
Della Jette and Sterling Jette Jr. were transported to Waterbury Hospital, where they were pronounced dead shortly after their arrival, according to the police press release. His mother, identified by CNN affiliate WTNH as Danielle Jette, was at the scene when the shooting occurred and called 911, police said. She was not injured.
- MIRA: Creepy murder of a young woman allegedly at the hands of her 63-year-old history teacher in Russia
Paul W. Ferguson, 42, was pronounced dead at the scene of a gunshot wound to the seemingly self-inflicted head, authorities said in the press release.
Ferguson had moved to his partner's house two weeks before the incident, police said.
The discussion began after Della Jette was upset that Ferguson smoked inside the house, Watertown police detective and spokesman Mark Conway told CNN. Ferguson then took a gun from his room and shot Sterling Jette in the leg, who had tried to intervene, said police chief John C. Gavallas at a press conference covered by WTNH.
"The mother went downstairs to call 911 when she heard a second shot, presumably when he shot the daughter at the entrance," Gavallas said. "He returned to the house and shot the son in the chest."
Watertown police received the incident call around 9:47 pm and when the officers arrived they found the teenagers with life-threatening injuries. They were transported to a hospital in the area where they both died, authorities added.
- READ: A mother in Pennsylvania told authorities that her two children committed suicide. Now she is accused of murder
The teenagers' death was declared homicide by the Connecticut Medical Examiner's Office on Wednesday.
Ferguson was a convicted criminal and was not authorized to own a firearm, according to police. He was convicted of illegal first-degree restraint after an arrest on charges of sexual assault in 2007, Conway completed.
Officers found several weapons in the house, according to WFSB, a CNN affiliate.
The two teenagers attended Kaynor technical high school, according to police.
Jeffrey Wihbey, the superintendent of Connecticut Technical Schools, said there is nothing worse than this that could happen to a school community, according to a statement obtained by WTNH, a CNN affiliate.
"Our top priority at this time is to do everything possible to support our students, staff and families during this crisis," Wihbey said in his statement. “Before the start of the school day, Kaynor Tech brought the school crisis team together. The team will provide pain counseling to students and anyone in the school community who may need it in the next few days, ”he added.
- MIRA: Colombian doctor called 911 before she was killed. The operator hung up when she could no longer respond
Watertown detectives, the Connecticut State Police and the Waterbury Prosecutor's Office are investigating the incident. Police say Jette is cooperating with investigators.
This is not the first tragedy that occurs at the Jette's house in Connecticut, police said.
Police responded to an incident three years ago when Danielle Jette's husband, Della and Sterling's father, Sterling Jette Sr., shot himself deadly after a minor domestic dispute, Conway said.
"This mother is completely disconsolate as you can imagine," Gavallas said during a press conference. “The boyfriend moved into the house two weeks ago for the holiday season. He and his two children died. ”
MurderConnecticut