KEY POINTS

  • The bodies of Gilbert Booker Jr. and Barbara Booker were found in their Chesterfield, Virginia, home on May 4 suffering from multiple gunshot wounds
  • Police were asked to perform a welfare check after the two hadn't contacted friends or family for over a week
  • Police said the case is considered a murder-suicide after new evidence pointed to Gilbert Booker Jr. being the shooter responsible for his and his sister's deaths

Police in Virginia said Wednesday that the deaths of two siblings found in their home is being considered a murder-suicide.

The bodies of Gilbert Booker Jr., 68, and Barbara Booker, 70, were found on May 4 at their home in Chesterfield County, Virginia, during a welfare check. Police said they conducted the check after friends and family said they hadn’t heard from either of the siblings for over a week. The bodies were found as part of what police called an “isolated incident” at the time and said there was no threat to the surrounding neighborhood.

The cause of death was ruled to be from the gunshot wounds both siblings had suffered, though police initially did not provide further details. However, police said they now suspect the shooting to be a murder-suicide and Gilbert Booker Jr. was responsible.

“At this point, evidence suggests Gilbert Booker shot his sister and then turned the gun on himself,” Chesterfield Police said in a statement.

Neighbor Crystal Price said she heard multiple gunshots from the house a few days before the bodies were found. She said it sounded like the gunshots came from the Bookers’ home across the street at around 12:30 a.m. on April 29.

“We were just sitting there talking and we heard gunshots,” Price told WRIC, an ABC affiliate in Richmond. “It was very close. Very, very close. It was like pow, pow, pow, pow.”

Another neighbor, Mary Spain, said she was suspicious something had happened after not hearing from either sibling for nearly two weeks.

“It’s kind of sickening really. I’ve been thinking of it all day and it makes me sick to my stomach. You don’t know how long they’ve been laying over there,” Spain said. “It’s sad. It really is and we still don’t know what exactly happened.”

The investigation is considered ongoing and police are asking anyone with information about the siblings that could help the investigation to contact police as soon as possible.

Chesterfield County is located south of Richmond.

tape police
This image shows police tape around an apartment building. Ronald Martinez/Getty Images
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