A woman killed her 3-year-old son and husband before failing to kill herself at a popular Pennsylvania water park, in what authorities on Tuesday called an “isolated domestic tragedy.”
Officers rushed to the Great Wolf Lodge at 3:13 p.m. on Monday after a “distressed female” in Room 2030 “advised the dispatcher that she needed help committing suicide,” according to a Poconos Township Police Department statement.
That caller, 27-year-old Towanda resident Metallica Rose Harrison, “was observed with wounds to her person” when officers arrived, the statement continued.
Officers found the bodies of a man and a 3-year-old boy in the room, and officers immediately “began investigating the deaths as homicides,” police said.
The woman’s husband, Charles Harrison, and the child had both been stabbed in the chest, according to a criminal complaint cited by NBC affiliate WGAL.
The suspect allegedly told a dispatcher where to find the bodies in their room.
“My husband and son are already gone in the bed in the living room,” the affidavit quoted the wife saying. “They’re already gone. I’m sorry.”
Harrison was booked on suspicion of two counts of homicide.
“This case is an isolated domestic tragedy and there is no threat to the community,”according to the police statement. “Our thoughts and deepest condolences go out to the family and loved ones affected by this tragedy.”
The famed water park and child-friendly vacation destination is a little more than 100 miles north of central Philadelphia and 90 miles west of Midtown in New York City.
“We are deeply saddened and heartbroken by a tragic domestic incident that occurred yesterday in a guest room at our resort in the Pocono Mountains,” according to a Great Wold Lodge statement.
“It was an isolated family incident, and we’re cooperating fully with local law enforcement as they conduct their investigation. Our thoughts are with the family and loved ones of those affected.”
A judge ordered Harrison held without bail on Tuesday and it wasn’t immediately clear on Wednesday if she’d hired or been appointed an attorney to speak on her behalf.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, call 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call the network, previously known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, at 800-273-8255, text HOME to 741741 or visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional resources.