Senseless Act': The Unbelievable Motive That May Have Led Gunman to Fatally Shoot 4 Neighbors, Their 2 Dogs, and Himself

Story by the Associated Press; curated by Dave Urbanski

PHOENIX (AP) — Loud barking may have precipitated a weekend shooting that left four family members and their two dogs dead in a Phoenix townhouse before the gunman, a next-door neighbor, turned the weapon on himself.

Phoenix police Sgt. Tommy Thompson says Sunday there is "some indication that perhaps [barking dogs] was a problem" for Michael Guzzo, 56, but now a motive may never be known.

Image source: KPNX-TV

Police say the victims were 66-year-old Bruce Moore; his daughter, 36-year-old Renee Moore; her husband, 42-year-old Michael Moore; and Renee's son, 17-year-old Shannon Moore. The family’s two dogs also were shot to death, notes KPNX-TV in Phoenix.

Police say Guzzo then shot at another townhouse before returning to his unit — which KPNX reports is next-door to the Moore unit — and killing himself.

More from KPNX:

Police received 911 calls at 9:09 a.m. about a man who was shooting inside the complex, he said.

Investigators determined that at some point before 9 a.m., before police were called, Guzzo shot Bruce and Michael Moore, who were in the back patio area of the family’s townhome, Thompson said. Guzzo then went back through his townhouse and through the front door of the Moore home, where he shot Renee and Shawn Moore, and the two dogs.

When Guzzo left the Moore home, he went across the courtyard and, at point blank range, shot through the front door of another townhouse, Thompson said. Someone inside the home shouted at him from an upstairs window and Guzzo fired at the window before going back into his townhouse.

The 911 calls came from the resident across the courtyard, Thomspon said. As officers were searching for the gunman, they discovered the slain Moore family inside their home, and then found Guzzo’s body in his townhouse.

Thompson said Guzzo’s motive is “one of the troubling questions we have.”

“There is some speculation that perhaps it may have been that Mr. Guzzo had a low tolerance for dogs or noise. ... This is an incident where we just don’t know what sparked this,” Thompson told KPNX. “Obviously, it’s a senseless act, and how do we make sense of a senseless act?”

Here's a report from KPNX:

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