Cops: College professor kills two sons, self in Illinois home
ROCKFORD, Ill. – Authorities in northern Illinois say a college professor and his two sons are those who died in an apparent murder-suicide this weekend.
The Winnebago County coroner says 58-year-old Peter S. Ruckman died of gunshot wounds along with 12-year-old John Ruckman and 14-year-old Christopher Ruckman.
Sheriff's deputies responded Saturday morning to the home near Rockford after Ruckman's ex-wife reported she wasn't able to contact him. They found the two boys shot in separate bedrooms, while the man was in a third bedroom.
The Rockford Register Star reports Peter Ruckman was a long-time political science professor at Rock Valley College and an instructor at Northern Illinois University. The boys were both students at Rockford Christian schools.
County records show the house is owned by Ruckman and his ex-wife Heidi Ruckman, who filed for divorce in July 2017, reports CBS affiliate WIFR. Deputy Chief Mike Schultz of the Winnebago County Sheriff's Office said there were no prior domestic violence or other calls to the home.
"We don't know exactly what the mental state or if there's been a history of mental illness or issues with the family," Schultz told the station.