LANCASTER, N.H. — Police found three people dead in the northern New Hampshire town of Lancaster early this morning in the latest in a rash of violent crimes in the state.
Police responded to a 911 call around 3 a.m. when they found David Collins, 44, dead at his home from apparent gunshot wounds, the New Hampshire attorney general’s office said. Police then found a burning pickup truck on another part of Wesson Road and discovered two bodies in it.
Authorities are awaiting autopsy results to identify the deceased.
Neighbor Dorothy Skeels said she was awakened around 3:15 a.m. by “crackling, fire-like, explosive sounds.” She said saw smoke coming from a neighbor’s house and heard a woman shouting.
An autopsy also will be performed on Collins to determine the cause and manner of death.
The discovery follows a rash of violent gun crimes in 72 hours in three small towns in New Hampshire, which is accustomed to between 15 and 19 homicides a year.
The shootings include a murder suicide in Dalton in which two died and another man was injured; the killing of the Greenland police chief and wounding of four officers, and fatal shooting of a man in Chesterfield.
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