This story was updated at 5:52 p.m.
Police have identified victims in an apparent murder-suicide in Newport.
State police report that Kevin Atkins, 38, was shot and killed in the Monday morning shooting, while his wife, Nicole Atkins, 29, suffered gunshot wounds to the neck and chest. Nicole was reported to be in surgery at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center for the injuries.
She was originally brought to North Country Hospital in Newport before being transferred to Dartmouth-Hitchcock.
After an initial investigation, Paul Brown, 51, Nicole’s stepfather, was identified as the perpetrator of the attack. Police say Brown appears to have shot Kevin and Nicole Atkins before fatally shooting himself inside a home where all three lived at 74 School St. in downtown Newport.
Officers say the couple was shot on the first floor, while Brown shot himself on the second floor, though they did not specify which rooms of the house.
Kevin and Nicole’s three children were in the house at the time of the shooting, though police say it was unclear whether they witnessed the event. The children, ages 2, 4, and 6, were “very quickly” removed from the home by responding officers, police said, and then relocated to other family members’ homes by the Department for Children and Families.
Nicole’s mother, Kim Brown, who also lives at the residence, made the initial call to the police just before 6 a.m.
Police say Paul Brown was not someone on their radar prior to this event, and they do not know of any mental health issues or any motive for the shooting. The investigation is ongoing, including to determine what may have precipitated the attack, police say.
“It’s incidents like these that happen in a small community that really do affect everybody around here,” said Travis Bingham, active chief of the Newport Police Department.
The investigation is being conducted by the Vermont State Police Major Crime Unit and Bureau of Criminal Investigations. Newport Police are also assisting.
Autopsies of Atkins and Brown are set to take place tomorrow in Burlington.
Police asked the public to contact the Vermont State Police in Derby at 802-334-8881 with any information that could help the investigation.
