DE PERE, Wis. (AP) — A man who fatally shot his wife and two children in a Green Bay suburb was unemployed and his wife had filed for divorce, police said Saturday.
Denis Bay, 46, apparently turned the .45 caliber semi-automatic handgun on himself Friday afternoon after killing his family. Police said he took his own life as officers arrived at the family's ranch-style home in De Pere, about six miles south of Green Bay.
"This is a serious event and tragic for the family and for De Pere," Police Chief Derek Beiderwieden said. "This isn't something that's normal so it's a sad day."
Denis Bay's, wife, Michelle, 44, was killed along with daughter Andrea, 14, and son Daniel, 10.
Beiderwieden said police are still investigating the motive behind the shootings. Denis Bay was unemployed and his wife filed for divorce in 2010, the chief said. The divorce was still pending.
There was no note, Beiderwieden said. "We may never know the real motive," he said.
Beiderwieden said Denis Bay called police from inside the house about 3 p.m. Friday to report he had just killed three people and was about to kill himself. An officer arrived three minutes later and the dispatcher heard a loud "pop" about the same time.
Jane Nohr, who lives in the home behind the Bays, told the Green Bay Press-Gazette (http://gbpg.net/yeeevq ) the wife and children had moved out about six months ago but returned in the fall for the new school year.
"Why she went back with him I don't know," Nohr said.
The family moved to the neighborhood about five years ago, said Nohr, who has lived in the neighborhood more than 30 years.
"I didn't know the man very much," she said. "He was the kind of guy, if she was out talking to me, he'd send the kids to get her. He was very demanding."
When the mother and children moved out, they lived in an apartment and Michelle Bay bought the kids a dog, a Lhasa apso named Maddy, Nohr said.
She said the daughter told her they brought the dog with them when they moved back, but that Denis Bay "never liked the dog." A dog and a cat were taken to a humane society and were expected to be released to family members.
Nohr last saw Andrea Bay when the girl was playing with the dog Thursday morning outside before school and brought it over to the fence to visit with Nohr's two Lhasa apsos.
Denis Bay was laid off about a year ago, Nohr said, but she didn't know what his occupation had been. She said Michelle Bay was on disability, but didn't know what specific medical issues she had.
"She kept having one operation after another," Nohr said.
Dan Angell said they seemed like a normal family.
"I would have never guessed that any of that would have happened," said Angell, who lives across the street.
Another neighbor, Nicole Born, said her husband talked to Denis Bay and noted that he was "nice, very, very respectful."
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Information from: Green Bay Press-Gazette, http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com
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