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By Khaleda Rahman
National Correspondent
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A man fatally shot his wife and their six children, then himself, before they were found in their burning house last week, authorities said on Monday.
Kristopher Karolkiewicz, 47, his wife Amanda Karolkiewicz, 39, and their six children, aged 5 to 15, were found in their home in Grand Haven Township, on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan, on Friday. Authorities were summoned for a fire and then discovered the bodies.
Autopsies determined all the family members died of gunshot wounds, and that Kristopher Karolkiewicz took his own life, Ottawa County Sheriff’s Captain Jacob Sparks said during a news conference on Monday.
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He said the fire appears to have been intentionally set in multiple parts of the home after the killings, but officials are still investigating the origin point.
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"The investigation at this point shows that this was a murder-suicide, with the fire being started after the murders," Sparks said. "The case remains open and under investigation to try to get to the bottom and get answers of what happened leading up to the incident."
Karolkiewicz was a vice president of sales and marketing for the American Heart Association (AHA) from September 2023 to earlier this month, when his employment ended, the organization said in a statement to Newsweek. He worked for a division responsible for CPR and first aid training and products.
"He worked remotely for the national headquarters operation from his home. He did not work in the local Michigan offices or with the local Michigan operations of the Heart Association," the statement said. "As an organization with professional staff who are dedicated to helping others, we are devastated by the news out of Grand Haven, and our thoughts are with the loved ones of those who lost their lives in this tragedy."
Amanda Karolkiewicz, who was known as Mandy, was a substitute teacher at Peach Plains Elementary School in Grand Haven, Kristin Perkowski, the superintendent of Grand Haven Area Public Schools, said in a letter to the community posted on social media.
She “served our students and staff with kindness, compassion, and a willingness to step in wherever she was needed,” Perkowski wrote.
“She touched the lives of countless students and colleagues throughout her years with our district and will be deeply missed.”
The couple met at work at a beverage company in 2008 and began dating that summer, according to a blog that Mandy Karolkiewicz kept over a decade ago.
The two married in August 2009 and welcomed their first child, a son, on April 25, 2011, which she hailed in one post as “the best day of my life (so far).”
They welcomed two more sons over the next four years, as she shifted from a banking job to a part-time position at a local insurance agency and later stopped working outside the home. The couple later adopted two daughters and had another biological son.
In her blog, she frequently expressed her Christian faith, her joy in the family and her love and appreciation for her husband and his parenting.
Kristopher Karolkiewicz, too, hailed their life together. “I’m a very lucky guy,” he wrote in a 2019 Facebook post ahead of their 10th anniversary.
Although her blog ended in 2016, Mandy Karolkiewicz continued sharing updates on her family and activities in TikTok videos, including clips of a trip to China earlier this month with two of her children.
Mandy Karolkiewicz’s family have launched a GoFundMe page to help with expenses and establish a scholarship in the Karolkiewicz children’s memory.
“This past weekend, our family experienced a tragedy beyond words. Becky and Steve Lawwill, my Aunt and Uncle, lost their daughter and six beloved grandchildren in a senseless tragedy. No words can capture that kind of heartbreak,” the organizers wrote on the page.
“Any funds remaining after legal expenses will go toward establishing a scholarship in the children’s memory, creating a lasting legacy that honors their lives and helps future generations.”
If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988, text "988" to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 or go to 988lifeline.org.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Ben Kelly, Tobias Meyjes and Tony Phillips
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