A mother and her adult son were found dead Thursday evening in what officers described as a murder-suicide, the St. Marys Police Department said.
The Police Department said officers responded about 11 p.m. to an apartment complex just north of the downtown area in St. Marys and were met by a man’s coworkers, who said the man had not reported for work and was not answering his cellphone.
“This was very unusual, so they came to the apartment to attempt to make contact with him. After knocking on the door and receiving no answer, they looked in a window and observed what they thought was him lying on the floor. Police were notified,” the Police Department said in a news release.
Police said that they found two people who appeared to have suffered a single gunshot wound each. The coroner’s office was notified, and the bodies were taken to undergo autopsies, police said.
Police said the two were identified as Bonnie Coker, 54, and her son, 24-year-old Eric Boswell.
The Police Department said a handgun was recovered at the scene.
“There is no evidence that this is the work of anyone who is still at large. Police are not searching for any other suspects,” the Police Department said.
The Police Department said an update on who did the shooting is pending the autopsies.
When News4JAX went to the scene on Friday, it appeared a bullet went through the window of the apartment.
News4JAX spoke with a nearby neighbor named John who said he heard the commotion the night before.
“Around 11:30-11:45-ish at night, I heard like thumping at a door or something like that, my dog started barking,” he recounted.
He said police activity is unusual in the area.
“There are like cops that live here, their families — at least one in every, like, side of this complex that I know of,” he said.
The Police Department said it offers its heartfelt condolences to the family members in their time of loss.