A young couple was gunned down in their own home in the Laurel area of Anne Arundel county in a murder-suicide Monday, and one of their children remains in the hospital after the shooting.
The Anne Arundel County Police Department said a man entered the home of Ivania and Ryan Lee looking for the children’s grandmother, his ex-girlfriend, who lived in the home.
“Somebody who was not related to us came into the house and took my sister and my brother-in-law’s life away, but it was not family domestic. We don’t even know the guy,” Ivania’s sister, Kim Bernal, said.
Police said the suspect, Shawn Price, was trying to reconcile the relationship with the children’s grandmother. Once inside the home, he opened fire and then took his own life.
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“If he was trying to reconcile, then why bring a gun?" one woman said.
Ivania and Ryan were shot and killed. Ivania was found inside the home. According to their next-door neighbor, Ryan ended up near the neighbor’s door and fell to the ground.
The age of the child who was shot was not revealed, but they suffered life-threatening injuries and were rushed to the hospital.
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The grandmother brought her uninjured grandchild to a neighbor’s house to keep her safe.
“We had the baby with us for maybe 45 minutes, an hour,” Hamid Mansaray, a neighbor, said. “And the police came in and said, ‘Sorry, we’re going to have to take the baby.’ And they took the baby. She was pretty calm. She was 2 years old.”
Police said Price had dated the children’s grandmother for years. Issues had arisen between the two over the last several months and she had refused any contact with him.
Relatives said she had sought a protective order at some point, but they didn’t have details.
“It’s sad. We didn’t see it coming,” one man said. “The neighbors, they always seemed to be to themselves. They were family oriented."
The couple’s son was critically wounded and remains in the hospital.
“He’s fighting hard. He’s good,” Bernal said. “He’s a strong fighter. He’s gonna be OK.”
Neighbors, meanwhile, wonder if their quiet street will ever be the same.
