Youth Pastor Charged in the Deaths of 3 People in Virginia

Christopher Gattis. (Chesterfield County Sheriff's Office)

A youth pastor was arrested and charged with murder in the shooting deaths of his stepdaughter, wife, and the stepdaughter’s boyfriend in their home on Thanksgiving Day, police said.

Christopher Gattis, 58, was charged with three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of using a firearm in the commission of a felony, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

The women’s bodies and the man’s body were found inside the Chester, Virginia, home and in the front yard, police said.

Jeanett Gattis, 58; her daughter Candice “Candy” Kunze, 30; and Kunze’s boyfriend, Andrew Buthorn, 36, were identified as the victims, officials said.

Gattis, a youth pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, is being held at Chesterfield County Jail without bond. He is set to appear at the General District Court on Monday and Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court on Tuesday.

“Members of Grace Lutheran Church are deeply saddened by the loss of life last night as a result of three individuals being shot in Chester, and this tragedy included members of Grace Lutheran Church,” the church said in a statement on its website.

Many people knew Gattis and the victims, a neighbor stated.

“We were all friends. We hang out sometimes [and] cook out in the back,” neighbor Mike Brown told WTVR. “I mean every time I see them, they’re always the same way. [I] had no clue that they were having problems that I knew of, but behind closed doors is behind closed doors.”

The 911 call was released.

“I have one detained; be advised he shot three people ... I got one male subject on the ground. He’s got two gunshots to the stomach ... Sir, we have two females down in the kitchen,” according to the call, as reported by NBC12

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