Two brothers aged 12 and 10 'in suicide pact using father's gun'

By Paul Thompson
Last updated at 8:01 AM on 30th July 2010

Two brothers aged 12 and 10 are feared to have killed themselves in a suicide pact using their father's gun.

Investigators believe the boys sneaked away from their home to a ravine before taking it in turns to shoot themselves in the head.

They found no sign of a struggle and the handgun used in the shootings alongside the bodies of 12 year old Bryan Gonzalez and his ten year old brother Christian.

Christian Gonzalez (left), 10, and his brother Bryan (right), 12, are believed to taken their own lives using their father's handgun

With police ruling out foul play they are working on the theory that the boys entered some sort of pact to take their own lives. The only other theory is that of murder-suicide.

'Whether it was murder-suicide, or suicide pact, unfortunately we’ll never know for sure,' said San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department Sgt. Frank Bell Bell. 'It’s hard to believe, to wrap your head around.'

The boys were found by their parents Francisco and Maria after they heard gunshots near their home in Chino Hills, California, and went looking for the boys.

After discovering the bodies paramedics were called but the brothers were pronounced dead at the scene.

Police said the boys had been told off by their father the day before the shooting for not doing their chores.

But police spokesman Sgt Bell said it was nothing out of the ordinary and both boys had been well cared for.

'The kids were well taken care of, and the house was in order,' Bell said. 'In everything we've learned in speaking to the family we can't find any reason that would cause these boys to be despondent to this level.

'We know they'd been punished for not doing their chores.'

Friends of the boys were struggling to come to terms with the deaths.

'I just can't believe what happened. It's just a tragedy because these two boys were amazing,' said Cassidy Rogers, a classmate of Bryan Gonzalez. 'They were amazing kids and they're going to be missed.'

From: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1298743/Two-Californian-brothers-aged-12-10-suicide-pact-using-fathers-gun.html