16-year-old US boy accused of gunning down his family

Police said the boy shot down his father, mother, sister and a family friend at their home in New York. The suspect’s brother and grandfather were apparently unharmed.

A teenage boy in the US state of New Jersey was in police custody Monday after being accused of gunning down his family on New Year’s Eve with a semi-automatic rifle, authorities said.

Prosecutors did not release the motive for the killings, which the boy carried out with a Century Arms semi-automatic rifle. (Representational Photo)

Police were called to a home in the city of Long Branch, about 90 km south of New York, at 11.43 pm Sunday in response to a report of shots fired and found four people dead, Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni said in a statement.

The victims were the suspect’s father Steven Kologi, 44; mother Linda Kologi, 42; sister Brittany Kologi, 18; and family friend Mary Schultz, 70.

The suspect’s brother and grandfather were apparently unharmed. They “thankfully left the home and came out OK,” Gramiccioni said at a press conference Monday, according to ABC News.

Prosecutors did not release a motive for the killings, which the boy carried out with a Century Arms semi-automatic rifle.

The teenager, whose name was not released, was taken into custody without incident.

He was expected to be charged as an adult with four counts of murder and one count of possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose.