A gunfight broke out between an estranged daughter and her family in Pennsylvania on Friday, killing her mother and brother before being shot to death by her father, CBS News reported.
Officials said on Sunday that Josephine Ruckinger, 43, killed her mother, Roberta Frew, 64, while her husband, Jeffrey Ruckinger, 43, killed Josephine's brother, John Frew Jr., 47.
John Frew Sr., 67, grabbed his .22 revolver and shot at the assailants before he realized they were his daughter and son-in-law.
"What we are lead to believe, at this point, he had no idea that was his daughter until after the fact, after everything unfolded," Pennsylvania State Police Trooper John Matchik Jr. said of the elder John Frew, sole survivor of the shootout,
Josephine Ruckinger was armed with a sawed-off 12-gauge shotgun and her husband had a Derringer pistol and a .22-caliber semi-automatic handgun.
Cambria County District Attorney Kelly Callihan called the shooting a murder plot.
"Clearly, these two individuals came to this house to carry out a plan, a deadly attack on this family," she said. "I would characterize it as a home invasion that was a murder plot. They came armed and ready to commit murder."
Josephine Ruckinger was still alive when authorities arrived at the scene but died later in the hospital. Her father remained uninjured.
The gunfight happened at the Frew residence in Ashville, a town about 40 miles southwest of State College.
Police officials said they discovered a large amount of ammunition, a gas can, and charcoal lighter fluid in the car owned by the Ruckingers.
Virginia Cruse, a relative of the family, said Josephine Ruckinger had "a hatred toward the family" ever since she was 20 years old.
Ballistics and toxicology reports are pending and the investigation is ongoing.
