A retired San Francisco police sergeant is the suspected shooter in a double-murder suicide that killed his wife, a former deputy chief, and their 24-year-old daughter at home.
Marin County deputies answered a 911 call around 5 p.m. Sunday at a family home on Strawberry Circle in Mill Valley and found three people dead inside. Authorities identified them as retired San Francisco Police Sgt. Kevin Mannix, 68; his wife, retired Deputy Chief Ann Mannix, 65; and their daughter, Katie Mannix, 24.
Fox News reported that another resident of the home safely escaped and placed the call that brought deputies to the scene.
Miguel Almaguer, the Marin County Sheriff’s public information officer, said the early probe points to a domestic killing ended by the shooter’s own death.
"The preliminary investigation indicates a suspected double-murder suicide involving three individuals,"
Almaguer said. He also stated, “The suspected shooter is male,” and later identified Kevin Mannix as that shooter. He declined to discuss any evidence found inside the home.
Ann Mannix was no ordinary retiree. She was a former SWAT commander and a trailblazing deputy chief in the San Francisco Police Department, the first woman to join the SWAT team and later help lead it. She backed youth sports and sat on the board of the city’s Police Activities League.
Lou Barberini, a former San Francisco officer and Bay Area columnist who knew the couple, remembered her skill and character.
"Ann had a lot of talent, and she was very competent,"
Barberini said. He added, “She was a great athlete, she was a good cop, and she was well-liked.”
San Francisco police did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the deaths of two of their own retirees.
On Monday, Louis Wong, president of the San Francisco Police Officers Association, issued a statement on the Marin County deaths.
"It is with profound sadness, shock, and heavy hearts that we address the devastating news that emerged out of Marin County on Sunday evening,"
Wong said. He continued that the loss of retired Deputy Chief Ann Mannix, her daughter Katie, and retired Sergeant Kevin Mannix in a suspected murder-suicide “has left our entire SFPD family reeling,” and that there are “no words that can fully capture the depth of this tragedy, nor are there simple answers to the painful questions we are all asking.”
Autopsies for all three were scheduled for Tuesday. Officials have not stated a motive. Absolute calendar dates were not released with the Sunday-through-Tuesday timeline, and the sheriff’s office has not detailed the weapon or other evidence pending further investigation.
Three lives ended in one Bay Area home, two of them people who once wore the badge, and a department that polices one of America’s most troubled cities is left without answers.
