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Estranged Husband, Wife Found Dead After Murder-Suicide

PARK RAPIDS, Minn. (WCCO) -- Police say a murder-suicide claimed the lives of a husband and wife from northern Minnesota.

Police said they received a 911 call from the wife, Dawn Anderson, from her home in Park Rapids Tuesday night before the phone went dead. When officers arrived, they discovered she'd been shot on her front deck. They also found the body of her estranged husband, Gregory Anderson, nearby.

The couple's 20-year-old son told police his father came into the house and told him to get out or he'd be hurt. He said his mother locked herself in a bedroom, but Gregory Anderson broke down the door and chased her downstairs with a hunting rifle, according to police.

The son told police he ran out of the house, heard his mother scream, turned back and saw her being shot. Police say the father then turned the gun on himself.

According to the police chief, Gregory Anderson had been staying at a halfway house near Fargo for alcohol abuse. The mother also had a restraining order against him.

Police say Gregory Anderson had a prior conviction, which means he isn't allowed to have a gun, though his family told police they have taken away his guns before.

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