AG: Franklin man shot and killed partner and toddler, wounded 5 year old before taking own life
The drama unfolded at about noon on June 3 when neighbors reported hearing gunshots at 124 Elkins St.
FRANKLIN, NH – A woman and her 18-month-old daughter are dead, her 5-year-old left wounded and hospitalized after a shooting inside a home on Elkins Street Saturday.
The shooter, according to NH Assistant Attorney General Adam L. Woods, was Jamie Bell, 42, who was found dead on the banks of the Merrimack River following an intensive search by law enforcement agents.
According to Woods, Bell shot and killed Nicole Hughes, his “intimate partner” as well as the couple’s young daughter, Ariella Bell, and also left Hughes’ daughter, 5, wounded, before fleeing on foot and then taking his own life.
The drama unfolded at about noon on June 3 when neighbors reported hearing gunshots at 124 Elkins St.
Police responded and discovered the shooting and immediately launched a search for Jamie Bell, who was considered a suspect in the shooting.
Police swarmed the neighborhood and ordered neighbors to shelter in place. At approximately 5 p.m. Jamie Bell was found deceased from what Woods described as “either a self-inflicted cut or incise wound” on his neck by the river.
During a news conference held at 9 p.m. at Franklin Police headquarters, Wood identified all involved – Hughes, her 18-month-old daughter and Hughes’ 5-year-0ld daughter from a previous relationship, who was alive and being treated in a Massachusetts hospital for a gunshot wound to the arm and laceration to her back.
Autopsies for Hughes, Bell and their daughter are scheduled for Sunday.
The investigation is ongoing.
