What did deputies encounter at the Moundsville home before Monica and David Will were found dead?

 A shooting at a home near Moundsville, West Virginia, took the lives of Monica Will and David Will and left their two children facing an unimaginable loss. The early-morning killings also ended with the death of the man authorities identified as the suspect, after a deputy fired during a confrontation involving a juvenile hostage.

Marshall County Sheriff Mike Dougherty said the incident began around 1:40 a.m. Thursday, October 1, when a 911 call came from the couple’s home on Middle Grave Creek Road. No one spoke on the line, prompting deputies to respond. As they approached, authorities said, 25-year-old Cyle B. Fabrizio of Moundsville fired a pistol toward them. Deputies took cover while trying to locate the gunfire, and the situation escalated.

According to the sheriff, Fabrizio then appeared in the doorway holding a juvenile girl at gunpoint, with a pistol pointed at her head. A deputy fired one rifle round, striking Fabrizio, who later died. Officials said the deputy faced an immediate threat to the girl’s life. The officer-involved shooting is being investigated alongside the homicides by the Marshall County Sheriff’s Office and West Virginia State Police.

After the confrontation, deputies entered the residence and found Monica L. Will, 46, and David D. Will, 44, dead from gunshot wounds. Preliminary findings released by the sheriff’s office indicate that Fabrizio first shot Monica through a window near the porch, then forced his way into the house and shot David inside. Investigators said Fabrizio had grievances involving the couple following an earlier incident. Those details form part of the ongoing investigation and should be understood as authorities’ preliminary account.

The couple’s two children, a 16-year-old daughter and a 14-year-old son, were reported physically safe and placed with relatives. Authorities have withheld their names because they are minors. Their safety does not lessen the scale of what they have endured: both children have lost their parents in a single night, while family members begin facing the difficult work of helping them through grief and upheaval. Officials described the violence as an isolated incident and said there was no continuing threat to the wider community.

Monica Will was an English teacher at John Marshall High School, where news of her death deeply affected students and colleagues. School officials canceled academic, athletic, and adult education activities on Thursday and made counseling available to students and staff. Classes were scheduled to resume Friday, with the homecoming parade canceled. Other school-sponsored homecoming events were expected to continue, as the school community tried to balance its plans with the need to support those mourning a teacher they knew and cared about.

Reports from the school community described Will as intelligent, caring, and committed to her students. She taught English and electives, including mythology, and hosted a card club where students made cards for people who needed encouragement or congratulations. That small tradition offers a glimpse of the connections she built beyond lessons. For students who found a welcoming place in her classroom, her absence is not only a headline but a change to the familiar routines and relationships that shaped their school days.

As authorities continue examining the killings and the deputy’s use of deadly force, many questions will be addressed through the investigation. The sheriff’s office has said the confrontation involved an immediate threat to a child, while investigators continue reviewing the events leading to the deaths. For the Will family, the consequences will extend far beyond the investigation itself. Monica and David are gone, and their children now face a future without either parent, supported by relatives and a community grieving alongside them.