Autopsy records released this week confirm what many in southern Wake County had feared for months: the three people found dead inside a Rand Road home near Garner last June died in a murder-suicide. Investigators say 49-year-old Shannon Collins shot his two sons, 15-year-old River and 13-year-old Jet, then set the family’s house on fire and killed himself. Their bodies, along with two cats, were found after firefighters put out the blaze on June 24, 2025. The new documents, combined with the family’s push to see deputies’ body-worn camera footage, have revived hard questions about what happened the night before.
Autopsy Findings Show Boys Were Shot Before Fire
River’s autopsy states he was sleeping in his bed when he was shot twice in the head, and that no soot was found in his airways, a detail that strongly suggests he was already dead before the fire reached him, according to The News & Observer. Records from the North Carolina Office of the Chief Medical Examiner also describe clear streaks of flammable liquid and several distinct points where the blaze began, which led investigators to treat the case as both homicide and arson. The medical examiner’s files lay out a timeline that has become central to the family’s questions about whether anything could have unfolded differently.
Deputies Visited the Home the Night Before
According to an incident report obtained by WRAL, deputies were called to the house the evening before the fire after the boys’ mother ran to a nearby gas station and reported a domestic disturbance. The responding officer reportedly instructed the couple to separate for the night and did not make an arrest. Later that night, the mother was briefly involuntarily committed, then returned to the courthouse on the morning the house burned. Neighbors told reporters they saw deputies at the home that prior evening, and the chain of calls and responses has since become a focal point of the family’s formal complaint.
Family Files Complaint and Seeks Bodycam Footage
Six days after the deaths, relatives filed a written complaint alleging the responding deputy did not fully investigate the domestic incident and missed chances to check for firearms, according to The News & Observer. This week, the boys’ mother also requested release of deputies’ body-worn camera footage, hoping the recordings will clarify what officers observed that night and why no one was taken into custody, as reported by CBS17. The complaint asserts that deputies did not verify whether a gun was in the home despite warnings that Shannon Collins had previously been involuntarily committed.
Scene Evidence and Community Reaction
Fire investigators documented multiple origin points for the blaze and visible trails of accelerant throughout the house, findings that led arson specialists to conclude the fire was deliberately set, according to WRAL. Neighbors and classmates were left stunned. River and Jet were remembered at school gatherings and by their swim team in the days after the killings, with friends and coaches sharing memories of the brothers’ energy and competitiveness, ABC11 reported.
What the Medical Examiner Recorded
The medical examiner’s final report for Shannon Collins lists his cause of death as an intra-oral gunshot wound and the manner of death as suicide, with toxicology tests detecting no ethanol, according to reporting on the autopsy documents. Wake County officials say the case remains an active investigation and note that personnel rules limit what the sheriff’s office can publicly share about internal complaints, according to local coverage. Family members say they are pressing ahead with records requests and the complaint process in an effort to learn whether different decisions by deputies might have changed what happened.
Those pending records and the sheriff’s internal review could eventually yield public bodycam video or a written report that sheds light on the previous night’s response. Any such release would likely feature prominently in any future policy review. Until then, the community is left trying to balance its grief with a growing demand for answers as investigators finish their work.
