Police say a Pennsylvania father killed his 8-year-old son and 6-year-old daughter at a Mount Lebanon parking garage in an apparent murder-suicide
Police responded to the area behind the Mt. Lebanon municipal building on Tuesday afternoon after three people were found unconscious near a parking garage. Investigators believe a father and his two young children died in an apparent murder-suicide, according to CBS. The county medical examiner identified them as 42-year-old Patrick Lynch, eight-year-old James Lynch, and six-year-old Caroline Lynch.
Police said first responders found all three shortly after 4:15 p.m. and attempted lifesaving measures, but they were pronounced dead at the scene. Investigators are treating the incident “not as an accident,” Mt. Lebanon Police Chief Jason Haberman said. He did not provide additional details regarding the events that led to the deaths.
The children’s mother, Anna Lynch, later shared what the family had been going through in a social media post. She wrote that her husband was a wonderful dad who struggled with depression after he was laid off in August. Family friends passed the message along to reporters as the Mt. Lebanon community began to mourn.
His wife says he had agreed to see a therapist the very next day
Anna Lynch said the therapy appointment was booked for Wednesday, one day after he and the children died. Her post also remembered James for his love of skiing and Caroline for her love of Skittles and slime. “Rest in peace, my angels,” Anna Lynch wrote, urging people to check in on their loved ones.
Investigators from the Allegheny County Police Department are reportedly handling the case alongside Mt. Lebanon police. The medical examiner has ruled the deaths of both children homicides, and officials said there is no danger to the community. However, authorities have not released information about what happened in the moments before the three were found.
Jason Haberman told reporters that everyone in the Mt. Lebanon community will know somebody involved in the incident, and he extended condolences on behalf of the department. The township sits about five miles south of Pittsburgh.
The Mt. Lebanon School District reportedly closed Markham and Washington elementary schools on Wednesday, and counselors were made available to students. Neighbors left flowers near the scene before the township moved the memorial to the pavilion at Clearview Common, as the original spot sat close to traffic. A prayer service for the family followed on Wednesday evening.
Nobody actually keeps an official national count of murder-suicides
Most data on murder-suicide in the US comes from the Violence Policy Center, as no public national database tracks these deaths. The group’s latest study counted 237 murder-suicides in the first half of 2025, or about nine each week. It estimated more than 1,000 deaths that year, with 45 children and teens among the homicide victims it counted.
A 2018 CDC report found that job or financial problems contributed to 16 percent of the suicides it examined. The agency has urged states to provide temporary assistance, as unemployment and housing stress can raise suicide risk. However, the same report found that many people who died by suicide had no known mental health condition at the time.
The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is available by call or text for anyone in emotional distress. Allegheny County Police are expected to release more findings as the investigation into the Mt. Lebanon deaths continues.
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