Family: Grandmother in shooting spree battled schizophrenia

Shooting survivor Thy Luellen Phan is comforted by an unidentified girl after a ceremony Friday at the Wat Khemarak Pothiram Buddhist Temple in Seattle. Her mother, Saroeun Phan, shot her, her daughters Molina Phan and Jennifer Harm, and her husband, Choeun Harm, at a West Seattle home Thursday before turning the gun on herself. (Joshua Trujillo/seattlepi.com)

Shooting survivor Thy Luellen Phan prays during a ceremony at the Wat Khemarak Pothiram Buddhist Temple in Seattle. People gathered at the temple to pray after Thy's mother killed two of her daughters and her husband before taking her own life. Thy was shot four times before the carnage ended. (Joshua Trujillo/seattlepi.com)

Police say she may have tried to kill everyone in the West Seattle home

Saturday, September 25, 2010
By CASEY MCNERTHNEY
SEATTLEPI.COM STAFF

It was about 1:30 p.m. Thursday when Saroeun Phan armed herself with a handgun.

"According to one of the witnesses, she did not say a single word when she came out of the bedroom and came downstairs," Assistant Seattle Police Chief Jim Pugel said. "Not a single word."

Police say before turning the gun on herself, Phan killed her 14- and 17-year-old granddaughters, Molina Phan and Jennifer Harm; her 43-year-old son-in-law Choeun Harm; and also shot her 42-year-old daughter, Thy Luellen Phan.

"Saroeun Phan has been struggling with schizophrenia and depression for several years and has sought medical attention numerous times," family members said in a statement. "She has been taking medication prescribed to her by physicians.