Job wasn’t problem in deaths, police say

WHITEHALL, Ohio (AP) — A man who police say shot and killed his wife and their two children in a murder-suicide had been unemployed but recently got his old job back at a car dealership.

Mark Meeks, 51, left a suicide note in his home, but police declined to discuss its contents Thursday. A motive for the shootings remained undetermined.

Meeks worked the night shift as a service adviser for Immke Northwest Honda in Dublin, helping customers decide what kind of repair work their vehicles need.

He had been laid off while the dealership tried to adjust to a tough economy but had been back on the job for three weeks, service manager Gary Kennedy said.

Police downplayed Meeks’ unemployment history as a factor in the shootings.

Police found the bodies Wednesday inside Meeks’ home in Whitehall, a Columbus suburb. It appears to be a murder-suicide and that the father was the gunman, Kelso said. The gun that Meeks used was in the house.

The gruesome finding came a day after authorities in Wilmington, Calif., said a man who was awash in debt and recently fired from his job at a hospital shot and killed his wife and five children in a murder-suicide.

Autopsies were being performed Thursday on the Meeks family. Police identified the other family members as Jennifer Dallas-Meeks, 40; and their children, Abbigail, 8, and Jimmy, 5.

Meeks previously worked at Coughlin Chevrolet in Pataskala, said general manager John Riley. Meeks left last year on good terms.