Tiffanie Lucas (inset) in a Bullitt County Detention Center mug shot, (left) the home were her 6 and 9-year-old sons were shot (WDRB/screengrab)
A 32-year-old Bullitt County, Kentucky, mother was arraigned on Thursday morning, less than 24 hours after she allegedly shot her two sons, ages 9 and 6, in a bedroom at their Shepherdsville-area home.
On Wednesday, the Bullitt County Sheriff’s Office said they responded after 11 a.m. to a residence on Bentwood Drive, where two young children had been shot and a “person of interest” was detained.
Hours later, authorities provided a tragic update saying that both victims died at Norton Children’s Hospital in Louisville and that their mother, Tiffanie Ann Katherine Lucas, was arrested on two murder charges.
According to a citation obtained by Law&Crime, Lucas’ arrest took place at 2:43 p.m. at 200 Salt Well Court, which is where Bullitt County Emergency Medical Services is located. The citation and brief complaint detailed that deputies responded after receiving a phone call from someone who reported that the children were “covered in blood” in a bedroom and that “a gun was on the bed.”
Tiffanie Lucas complaint
“Both victims were transported to the hospital in critical condition and later declared deceased as a result of their injuries,” court documents said, adding that a witness identified Lucas as the murder suspect.
Bullitt County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Col. Alex Payne spoke about the “horrific” shooting in on-camera remarks aired by WLKY, a local CBS affiliate that also reported Lucas previously served jail time in a drug possession case.
“Whether you think it’s mental illness, just pure evil, a combination of both, it could be substance abuse, any combination thereof. Pick your poison. None of it’s good. The result is horrific,” Col. Payne said.
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The WLKY report indicated that a neighbor was the one who found the victims fatally shot. Col. Payne said the boys had different fathers, one of the men deceased and the other with “unknown” whereabouts.
Following the suspect’s Thursday morning video conference arraignment without an attorney present, during which the judge entered a not guilty plea, Lucas’ bond was reportedly set at $2 million, keeping her in the Bullitt County Detention Center where she was initially booked at 3:45 p.m. on Wednesday.
The shooting stunned locals who live nearby and next door.
WDRB reported that some neighbors who didn’t want to be interview on camera said they saw the victims playing in the neighborhood just the night before the shooting. Those neighbors also disclosed that they saw Lucas “frantically cleaning carpets,” as the report put it. The neighbors asked Lucas how she was doing and she responded that there was “a lot going on,” the report said.
Carol Warren, another local, said on camera while sitting in a car that it was “horrifying that things like that go on.”
“I know people get aggravated, but that is just over the top,” Warren added. “It is sad.”
WLKY reported that neighbor Steve Steier asked two questions that many others, including investigators, are likely asking right now.
“It’s sad. I mean, what’s this world coming to? For a mother to shoot her two children like that?” Steier said.
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