🚔 “POLICE SURROUNDED THE HOUSE FOR 2 HOURS… BUT THE REAL HORROR WAS ALREADY INSIDE”

A Connecticut man killed his girlfriend and two young daughters in a murder-suicide.

Patrick King killed his girlfriend Felisha Matthews and her two young daughters before fatally shooting himself during a standoff with a SWAT team at his Plainville, Conn. home, Plainville Police Chief Christopher Vanghele said in a press briefing.

Plainville police were alerted to the situation at around 3:53 p.m local time on Friday, March 27, when a woman called 911 and told dispatchers that her brother “claimed that he shot and killed his girlfriend and his four-year-old daughter and was going to kill himself,” Vanghele said.

Police arrived at King’s residence, set up a perimeter and attempted to communicate with him to no avail. A SWAT team was then called to the scene, and a negotiator with the team was able to establish communication with King, 27, over the phone.

Patrick King and Felisha Matthews with their daughter.Felisha Matthews/Facebook

After the SWAT negotiator’s unsuccessful attempt to have King peacefully give himself up to authorities, “the decision was made to deploy pepper gas within the home” to force him to surrender, Vanghele said. After the gas was deployed, King shot himself in the head.

Law enforcement attempted life-saving measures on King, who was transported to a hospital but pronounced dead shortly after, according to the Plainville police chief.

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Police found three bodies in the home that had sustained gunshot wounds. Vanghele identified the victims as Felisha, 31, and her daughters Ava King, 4, and Mileena Matthews, 12. (Felisha shared Ava with King, and Mileena is her “daughter from another father,” per the chief.)

Vanghele said that King was “very new to this community.” The family had moved into the home in January, and police had not previously been called to the residence, he said during the press briefing on Saturday.

Felisha Matthews, Patrick King and Mileena Matthews.Felisha Matthews/Facebook

The Plainville police chief told reporters that the weapon King used to kill the family “appears” to be legally registered to him, and he had a permit to carry. Police discovered several other weapons at the residence, he added.

“This is an active investigation and currently there is no information as to the motive of the killer,” said Vanghele. “This is a very dark day for the town of Plainville and for Connecticut.”

In the same press briefing, Plainville Town Manager Mike Paulhus echoed the police chief’s sentiment in a statement on the “tragic” events.

Felisha Matthews with her daughters.Felisha Matthews/Facebook

“I’m not sure we’ll ever understand what transpired,” said Paulhus. “We’ll endeavor to do so, but it’s hard to make sense of it. And this community is a community that is resilient and will come together, but it is a dark day and a dark hour at this moment.”

King and Felisha had been together for over seven years, according to their social media accounts.

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Felisha Matthews and Patrick King with their daughter Ava.Felisha Matthews/Facebook

In a seventh anniversary tribute Felisha shared in August 2025, the late mother wrote that since meeting in an auto parts store in 2018, she and King have “built a life full of love, chaos, growth, and so many second chances.”