A 26-year-old man suspected of shooting his parents and brother Monday night may have been drinking before the ordeal, court documents state.
Sheriff's deputies took Virgil M. Togstad III of Wittmann into custody, and he was booked on three counts of first-degree murder at the Fourth Avenue Jail in downtown Phoenix.
According to booking documents, detectives said they "were able to smell a moderate amount of alcohol coming from his breath."
However, Togstad said he had not been drinking and had not done any drugs within the past 72 hours, according to the court documents.
The incident began Monday when sheriff's deputies received a call that a man was attacking his family. They arrived about 7:30 p.m. in the 21000 block of West Hovey Avenue, where they found three bodies: one inside the home, one near a doorway and another on the lawn.
Togstad immediately surrendered and said, "Maybe I shouldn't have wasted my family," among other comments, the documents state.
Togstad admitted to detectives he was the person who called 911 to report the shootings. The caller told the 911 operator he had shot his parents and his brother and that he killed them "because they are not his family." The caller also stated that he was "Virgil."
Detectives interviewed the girlfriend of Togstad's brother as a witness. She said the trouble began when the family was shooting a BB gun and Togstad's father asked Virgil if he wanted to shoot it. The younger Togstad said no, took a handgun from his waistband and shot a round at the target the family had been shooting at earlier with the BB gun.
According to the witness, the elder Togstad scolded his son, who then fired five shots at his father, striking him. Togstad's mother began screaming and more gunshots were fired. That's when the witness said she saw Togstad's brother lying on the ground.
The names of the victims had yet to be released Tuesday about noon.
Togstad, who has a lengthy criminal history, has two outstanding warrants: one out of Surprise on charges of driving under a suspended license, failure to comply and narcotics-equipment possession, while the other involves a probation violation and disorderly conduct.
http://www.azcentral.com/community/westvalley/articles/2008/06/24/20080624gl-nwvshootings0625.html
I front paged it.
