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Police Identify Man, Girl Found Dead In Faribault Murder-Suicide

FARIBAULT, Minn. (WCCO) -- We've learned much more about a murder-suicide in Faribault over the weekend.

Sunday afternoon officers found a man and a child shot to death inside a house on Hulett Avenue.

Monday police identified the gunman as 33-year-old Ryan Perrizo and the child as an 8-year-old girl named Lynnaya. Neighbors said Perrizo and his late wife were planning to adopt the girl.

The bodies were discovered shortly before 2 o'clock Sunday afternoon after someone looked through a window and saw Ryan Perrizo lying in the entryway.

Police found a handgun next to him.

They also found a child who lived there.

She too had been shot and police believe it was Perrizo who did it.

The frigid chill in the air was barely noticeable to families on Hulett Avenue who are overcome with grief.

Duane and Christine Ozmun live next door to Ryan Perrizo.

"A lot of tears. Like I say I still haven't even grasped the whole situation yet of everything. It's hard," said Duane.

Neighbors say Ryan Perrizo was a quiet man who became even more reserved after his wife Jodi died two years ago.

"Kind of lonely since he lost his wife, kind of just sporadic. Out one minute, then in the house the next minute. You wouldn't see him for a week, then you'd see him for two days. He just never talked to nobody. I talked to him though," Duane said.

Neighbors say the couple was raising 8-year-old Lynnaya and in the process of adopting her.

"When I was out planting the trees, the little girl came over and started planting trees with me and she said, 'My mommy is in heaven,'" Duane said.

Lynnaya spent a lot of time outdoors playing and loved to chat.

"All the time. She ran over and played with my dog. She was always a little friendly girl," he said.

Duane's wife Christine is also deeply saddened.

"She was just the sweetest little girl. She played outside every day. I can just still see her riding her little scooter all over. She was very friendly. She would go for walks with my husband and the dog," Christine said.

Late Sunday afternoon neighbors feared something terrible had happened.

"We all came out here and they called 911, and the whole time all of us just kept hoping that she was not in there with him. I'm just mad at him. I wish he could have sent her over to our house or somewhere if he was going to do something like that," Christine said.

The Faribault police chief says the investigation reveals there were signs on social media that Ryan Perrizo was emotionally distressed.

He wants people to know that if you call 911, dispatchers can connect you with a crisis line so you can talk with a mental health professional.

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