Quadruple tragedy in Gy: father kills his children and mother-in-law before taking his own life
Four members of the same family, including two children aged 6 and 10, were found dead on 2 September 2026 in Gy, in Haute-Saône. The father, aged 42, is suspected of committing the murders before turning the weapon on himself.
Four bodies discovered in Gy, including two children: father is main suspect
Four members of the same family were found dead on Wednesday, 2 September 2026, at around 8 p.m., on the heights of Gy, a town in Haute-Saône with a population of approximately 1,000. According to Google News FR — Crime, which is reporting information from France 3 Franche-Comté, it involves a 42-year-old man, his two children aged 6 and 10, and his wife's mother, a 74-year-old woman.
The incidents occurred on private land located on Chemin de Bellevue, where the family was living in a mobile home, near a house under construction. The gendarmerie was alerted "after the father informed them that he had killed his children," the Vesoul prosecutor's office stated in a statement. Upon arrival at the scene, law enforcement found the bodies of the two adults inside a bungalow and those of the two children in a utility vehicle parked nearby.
Murder-suicide hypothesis favoured by prosecutor's office
The investigation is pointing towards a murder-suicide. According to an official source requesting anonymity, the father is believed to have shot his two children and his mother-in-law with a side-by-side shotgun of 12-millimetre calibre, before turning the weapon on himself. The children's mother was absent at the time of the incidents.
The Vesoul prosecutor, Arnaud Grécourt, confirmed this line of enquiry: "The hypothesis currently being pursued in this investigation is that the father, in the process of separating, took the lives of the three other people before turning the weapon on himself." The family came from the Traveller community. The 42-year-old man had never been convicted of offences against persons, although another judicial source indicated he had previously been convicted of property offences.
Mother-in-law had come to collect the children at the time of the tragedy
A man presenting himself as the father's cousin, encountered by AFP near the scene of the tragedy, provided details about how the incidents unfolded. According to him, the mother-in-law was on the spot to collect the children when the tragedy occurred. "He filmed the scene and sent it to his wife, telling her: this is what you deserve," before sending the footage to his brothers, he reported, without wishing to give his name.
The cousin also spoke about the marital context: the 42-year-old man's partner had wanted to leave him since an infidelity several months earlier. The couple appeared to have reconciled — they had gone on holiday together to Greece during the summer — but on the day of the incidents, the children's mother had asked her own mother to go and collect them, telling her: "I don't want to go back."
The prosecutor's office stated that "investigations, particularly focusing on digital materials seized and any exchanges that may have taken place before or at the time of the incidents, are ongoing."
Neighbour testifies: "We heard bangs"
A neighbour of the family recounted to France 3 Franche-Comté the moments preceding the discovery of the tragedy. "Last night, I was on the computer and we heard bangs. My wife said, 'it's a shutter banging.' But there was no wind. Those were gunshots. We didn't know at the time," he explained to journalists Frédéric Buridant and Emmanuel Blanc.
He also described the father as a man integrated into local life: a member of FC Monts de Gy, he worked as a self-employed builder and had just begun constructing his own house. "An hour before the tragedy, the older boy was taking down his parents' bin."
Substantial deployment of emergency services and investigation launched
Some thirty firefighters and around fifty gendarmes were quickly deployed to the scene, cordoning off the crime scene. The mayor of Gy, Alexandre Lacroix, and prosecutor Arnaud Grécourt also went to the scene. The latter opened an investigation into wilful homicide, entrusted to the Vesoul search brigade.
Crime investigation technicians and a forensic pathologist carried out the necessary examinations throughout the night; the operation was not concluded until 6 a.m. The autopsies of the four bodies were scheduled for 4 September, Arnaud Grécourt confirmed in a second statement.
Psychological support mobilised for the town
Facing the shock caused by this tragedy in the community, mayor Alexandre Lacroix announced the establishment of a psychological support cell. A scheme was deployed at the Catherine Fraischot education centre, where the two children were schooled, as well as in the three other schools in the town. "I also convened the education community at 7:45 a.m. today to express my solidarity. We must be particularly attentive to the pupils, the teachers and the entire education community who could be deeply affected by this tragedy," he stated. The municipal council also decided to cancel events scheduled for the following days.
Source: Google News FR — Crime (fr)