Authorities say the Kerr County man they suspect killed his wife and son early Friday, then pointed the gun at himself, then went to a neighbor’s house and asked for forgiveness.
Mark Cormier, 54, was still conscious when rescue workers arrived at Shalako subdivision, but reluctant to immediately reveal what sparked the shooting in which Candace “Candy” Cormier and the couple’s adopted son, Jeremiah, 10, were dead were.
“He told me he wanted to speak to me, but he wanted to go to the hospital before he told us exactly what happened,” recalled Kerr County Sheriff Rusty Hierholzer on Tuesday. “Unfortunately he had a massive heart attack during the trip and has not been available since then.”
Cormier, who owned a chimney sweep business, remained in critical condition at the San Antonio Military Medical Center on Tuesday, said Hierholzer, who has not filed a criminal complaint against him.
“You are not sure if he will survive at all,” he said.
Fourteen shots were fired during the pre-dawn incident on Goat Creek Road that killed Candy Cormier, a real estate agent, dead on her bedroom floor and Jeremiah in his bed.
“Unfortunately, the boy was badly hit on the head, probably before he was shot,” said Hierholzer, calling the incident “extremely tragic”.
He said he was not aware of any triggering incident or previous domestic violence in the home.
When Mark Cormier “went to a neighbor’s house, he asked her forgiveness for what he had done,” said the sheriff.
Justice of the peace Bill Ragsdale said Tuesday he was still awaiting the results of the autopsies of the victims, who are scheduled to have a memorial service scheduled on Wednesday.
Their joint obituary said Jeremiah excelled academically at Ingram Elementary School, enjoying basketball, wrestling, hunting, and fishing.
Candy Cormier, a member of the Kerrville Morning Rotary Club and a board member of Kerrville’s Christian Women’s Job Corps, quickly developed a strong bond with Jeremiah after his adoption.
“Candy and Jeremiah were loved by all whose lives they touched and were inseparable even in death,” the obituary reads.
A member of Candy Cormier’s family declined to comment on Tuesday.
zeke@express-news.net
