A mother and two children are dead after she intentionally walked over Niagara Falls

A mother and her two children were dead after she intentionally crossed Niagara Falls on Luna Island, police said Wednesday.

A New York State Police news release said Chaianti Means, 33, her 9-year-old Roman Rossman and her 5-month-old child Mecca Means went over a safety barrier and drove over Niagara Falls.

“They are believed to be deceased and New York State Police are conducting recovery efforts, using resources near Niagara Falls and the lower river to recover the bodies,” State Trooper James O’Callaghan said. Newsweek via email on Wednesday afternoon.

State troopers and New York State Park Police responded to the incident on Monday around 9 p.m. EST.

“The investigation determined that this incident was intentional, although the circumstances remain under investigation,” state police said in a news release.

Search and rescue efforts, which include unmanned aerial vehicles and an underwater rescue unit, have so far been unsuccessful, police said.

Luna Island is a small island between American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls, which, along with Horseshoe Falls, is a tourist attraction. The deceased’s family comes from Niagara Falls, New York.

Murder and suicide on Long Island

Downstate in Syosset, New York, Joseph DeLucia Jr., 59, shot four members of his family and then himself. alleged murder-suicide in August.

Police arrived at DeLucia’s home after receiving reports of shots fired and found DeLucia’s siblings, Joann Kearns (69), Frank DeLucia (71) and Tina Hammond (64), as well as his niece Victoria Hammond (30). , fatally shot recently in the back of DeLucia’s apartment. deceased mother’s house.

Police determined that DeLucia, who lived with his 95-year-old mother, Theresa Martha DeLucia, before she died days before the incident, thought he would not receive his inheritance.

“Joseph Jr. he was seen as being cut out of the will and displaced with no place to go,” Nassau County Police Capt. Stephen Fitzpatrick said at a news conference.

Fitzpatrick added: “He has had a history of mental health issues, mental health issues that have been reported to us. Because of this observation, he decided that he would buy a loaded 12-gauge Mossberg shotgun that day, walked up to them at the back of the house and said, ‘He fired 12 shots from the kitchen, hitting all four multiple times.’

How common are suicides?

Suicide is one of the leading causes of death in the United States.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, more than 49,000 people died by suicide in 2022 (CDC). This means 1 death every 11 minutes.

The CDC reports that 13.2 million adults have seriously considered suicide, 3.8 million have planned suicide, and 1.6 million have attempted suicide.

Suicide rates have been on an upward trend for over two decades, declining in the late 2010s. According to the CDC, the suicide rate increased by 37 percent from 2000 to 2018, decreased by 5 percent from 2018 to 2020, and then returned to its highest level in 2022.

If you know someone who needs help, you can call or text the Suicide and Crisis Hotline on 988.