Officials: Woman shot her husband, torched their house before taking her own life in Alabama

HOUSTON COUNTY, Ala. — A woman set her house on fire after shooting her husband multiple times in Houston County, Alabama before officials say she took her own life.

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On Friday, emergency crews were called out to a house on the 1000 block of Webb to Kinsey Road about a house fire. According to WDHN, when firefighters arrived at the scene, they found a person in the backyard with what appeared to be gunshot wounds.

“At first it came out as a structure fire where there appeared to be somebody inside looking out a window,’’ Houston County Sheriff Donald Valenza said at a news conference Wednesday, according to AL.com.

Valenza said investigators determined that Jolaine Chandler, 72, had shot her husband, Edgar Chandler, 75, three times inside their house, according to WDHN. After she shot her husband, she reportedly set fires in four different places inside the house. Then she went outside to her backyard and shot herself.

Edgar Chandler was located and taken to the hospital for treatment. According to the news outlet, he was shot in his right arm, right hip and his stomach on the right side. His injuries are believed to be non-life threatening.

Jolaine Chandler’s family members said that she was suffering from early signs of dementia, Valenza said, according to AL.com.

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