BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Shovelful by shovelful, investigators sifted through the charred remnants of a Montana home where four generations of a family were killed as they gathered for Sunday dinner, searching for evidence that might help explain what happened and why.

Alan Smith, 44, killed his grandmother, his parents, his younger sister and her children before dying of a self-inflicted gunshot wound just after police arrived, authorities said. Multiple fires were set inside the suburban home on the outskirts of Billings. Smith had lived there before being asked to move out weeks earlier, according to accounts from police and surviving relatives.

“There’s many questions that will come from this investigation,” Yellowstone County Sheriff Kent O’Donnell said during a Wednesday news conference. “Some of those questions we probably won’t ever be able to answer, because all the parties that will have those answers are not here to answer them for us.”

The victims included Owen and Chloe Ireland and their stepsiblings, Landon and Charlotte Ghekiere. Owen, 13, was described by his father as the “perfect big brother” and 12-year-old Chloe’s protector. Landon, 15, planned to get his driver’s license this week. Charlotte, 12, was a lover of nature, particularly insects, said Jennifer Mercer, a neighbor and family friend.

A candlelight vigil was planned Thursday night.

Police had no prior contact with the shooter

The attack happened at the home of Smith's parents: Dana Smith, who was retired from the Air Force and Boeing, and Barb Smith, a retired teacher.

The Smith family was originally from the Seattle area. Brad Ireland, the father of Owen and Chloe, said that after he and Megan Ghekiere divorced six years ago, she moved to Montana with their children. That’s where she met the man who would become her second husband, Adam Ghekiere, who was at work when the shooting occurred.

Her parents soon followed to Billings, buying a house near their daughter, and her brother moved in. Police had not been called to the home before and had no previous contact with Alan Smith, the sheriff said.

Megan Ghekiere, 39, worked in healthcare, Mercer said. The eighth victim was Dana’s mother, Evelyn Smith, 92, who used a wheelchair and lived in a nearby retirement community.

Arriving officers heard shots and saw smoke

Smith showed up in the neighborhood at 5:49 p.m. Sunday, O'Donnell said, and just after 6 p.m., one of the females in the home called 911. He said he couldn't confirm who made it. But Mercer identified the caller as 12-year-old Charlotte, saying she tried to save her family.

The first arriving officers confronted Smith, and he ran back inside. The officers heard gunfire and saw smoke in the home, O'Donnell said. Smith then ran into the backyard and shot himself, authorities said.

The home quickly became engulfed in flames. The neighborhood homes operate on wells, and there were no hydrants required there, so firefighters had to truck in water.

Autopsies were still being conducted, O’Donnell said.

The sheriff said police had recovered weapons from the scene but he did not describe them or say what type of gun or guns Smith used. Investigators had “some idea” of what might have prompted the shooting, but said law enforcement is focused on the crime scene for now, adding, “Some of this is the family's story to tell.”

Brad Ireland described Smith as a “hermit” who spent most of his days on the computer. “There were many red flags and many people spoke out,” he told The Associated Press on Tuesday. “No one listened.”

Alan Smith had attended Eastern Washington University but had been unable to find or hold a job, Ireland said.

Memorial features teddy bears and touching messages

At the mailboxes in the neighborhood, a makeshift memorial has grown with teddy bears, family photos, flowers, balloons and a notebook to leave messages. One classmate wrote they were “sorry that they wouldn’t see them in school this year,” O’Donnell said.

Among the items investigators found in the home were a photo album, largely intact, and a family Bible, almost entirely unscathed, O'Donnell said. Neighbors have offered law enforcement at the scene water and food as they dig through the wreckage of the fire.

“There are rays of good and sunshine that come through this,” O’Donnell said.

Billings Mayor Mike Nelson said it would be hard to find someone in the city of 120,000 who did not have some connection to the victims or feel an impact from their deaths.

“There was shock at first and now there are people who are deeply upset, and they should be. There are people who are angry, and that's OK too,” he said. “We'll come together and we'll support the family.”

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Johnson reported from Seattle, Schuettler from Phoenix. Associated Press writer Michael Biesecker in Washington, D.C., contributed.

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Schuettler is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

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