Allen Police find 6 dead, say suicide pact shared on social media mentions ‘killing family’
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ALLEN, Texas (KTVT) — A welfare check just before 1 a.m. on April 5 led Allen police to the discovery of six bodies in the 1500 block of Pine Bluff Drive.
Police confirmed the identities as 19-year-old twins Farhan and Farbin Towhid, their older brother Tanvir, 21, and their parents Iren and Towhidul Islam died. The children’s grandmother, Altafun Nessa was also a victim.
Police said the deaths are a result of a murder-suicide.
The family is part of a tight knit Bangladeshi community.
“When I heard the news I couldn’t breathe for 20 to 30 minutes. How could it happen in a community like us? We’re so close and we visit each other and talk to each other, we have dinner and stuff, but inside the house… his children were unhappy for some reason and one thing led to another,” said family friend Shawn Ahsan. “We are heartbroken. I don’t know what else to say… ”
When officers arrived, they found the bodies, all dead from gunshot wounds. Police said the deaths are a result of a murder suicide — two of the brothers killing their family.
Police said Farhan Towhid linked a lengthy suicide note from his Instagram. In it he writes “Hey everyone. I killed myself and my family.” He goes on to talk about how he has battled depression since 9th grade.
In the suicide note, Farhan Towhid said in February of this year, his older brother — who was also battling depression — made a proposition. He wrote that his brother said, “If we can’t fix everything in a year we’ll kill ourselves and our family.”
The letter details the brother’s plan.
“The plan was simple. We get two guns. I take one and shoot my sister and grandma, while my brother kills our parents with the other. Then we take ourselves out.”
No explanation apart from his depression are mentioned as to why Farhan Towhid allegedly decided to carry out the plan.
“If I killed just myself, they would be miserable,” he wrote. “I love my family. I genuinely do. And that’s exactly why I decided to kill them.”
Allen police said they had no prior interaction with the family that would give any indication such a tragedy could happen.
They are asking for anyone who may have additional information about the incident to please contact Investigator Tim Dowd at tdowd@cityofallen.org or by phone at 214.509.4252.
“And I don’t think he was talking about, look at me, Look at me. I think he was talking about, I need to be heard. I need somebody to understand what this is like, so that somebody else can get help from it,” Leigh Richardson, clinical director of the Brain Performance Center, said.
“I think we all need to recognize that depression is very common, and it occurs at very early ages. And if you have a child or a sibling, or a partner, or just a friend that you think may be experiencing depression, reach out,” Richardson added.
Towhid’s alleged suicide note was posted for a time on Google Docs but was removed with a note from Google stating, “We’re sorry. You can’t access this item because it is in violation of our Terms of Service.”
The University of Texas at Austin released a statement on the deaths of Farhan and Tanvir Towhid, who were both former students at the school.
“Today we received the extremely sad news about the deaths of two former students, Farhan Towhid and his brother Tanvir Towhid, and their family. The news is devastating to our university. We express our deepest sympathies to their extended family and friends.”
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