Hawaii family, including three children, die in apparent murder-suicide

Police say preliminary investigation shows husband fatally stabbed wife and children in state’s worst mass killing since 1999

Hawaii police said on Sunday they were investigating what appears to be the murder-suicide of a family, including three children, by its patriarch at a Honolulu home.

Despite police’s description of the incident as a murder-suicide, such crimes since the 1980s have been known as family annihilations. Communities – especially in the US – often perceive those crimes to be isolated tragedies. However, an Indianapolis Star investigation found there had been an average of one family annihilation somewhere in the country every five days since 2020.

In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org