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Search Warrants Show Brian Short Bought Shotgun Days Before Murder-Suicide

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The man who investigators believe killed his four family members and himself in the west Twin Cities metro area earlier this month purchased the weapon used in the murder-suicide just days before, according to search warrants released Tuesday.

Documents show Brian Short purchased a 12-gauge shotgun at at the Gander Mountain store in Eden Prairie on Sunday, Sept. 6. An investigation by the Hennepin County Medical Center revealed the incident likely happened late Monday night or early Tuesday morning.

South Lake Minnetonka police officers were called to the Greenwood home on Sept. 10 to perform a welfare check after the three teenage kids did not show up at school and Brian Short was absent from work.

When officers arrived, they found Brian Short, his wife Karen, and their three children -- Cole, Maddy and Brooklyn -- all dead inside. The Hennepin County Medical Examiner ruled the incident a murder-suicide and said the three children all died of gunshot wounds to the head. They were all found dead in their bedrooms.

Brian Short also shot and killed his wife before turning the gun on himself, investigators say. The search warrants show Karen Short was found dead between the master bedroom and the master bathroom in the home.

Officers found Brian Short dead in the garage with the Remington shotgun and a manual for it nearby.

The search warrants do not reveal a motive for the incident and do not indicate any sign of a suicide note being left behind.

A search warrant investigating his Excelsior business shows he told one of his employees the Friday before that he didn't have plans for the weekend. The employee was also aware that Brian Short had been stressed because business was not going well.

Funeral services were held for the family on Sunday at Grace Church in Eden Prairie. All three kids had attended Minnetonka High School.

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