Anchorage, AL: Soldier killed wife, daughter, police say

Preliminary autopsy findings have determined Spc. Kip Lynch, a 21-year-old military policeman, was responsible for the double homicide at the family's South Anchorage apartment, police spokesman Lt. Dave Parker said.

Lynch also shot himself and remains hospitalized in critical condition, Parker said. Police have not been able to talk to him, he said.

Authorities went to look for Lynch on Monday morning after he failed to report for duty. Two military police officers knocked on the door of his home in the 9900 block of William Jones Circle and got no answer, so a landlord let them in about 7:30 a.m. Monday.

They found the bodies of Lynch's wife, 19-year-old Racquell Lynch -- who goes by Kellie -- and their daughter, 8-month-old Kyirsta Lynch. They had been shot to death, police said.

Anchorage police arriving on the scene later discovered Kip Lynch critically injured with a gunshot wound in another part of the apartment in an eight-plex. He was rushed to Providence Alaska Medical Center, where he underwent emergency surgery for life-threatening injuries, according to police.

Kip Lynch, of Jacksonville, Fla., serves with the 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, at Fort Richardson and just two months ago returned from the brigade's yearlong deployment in Afghanistan, near the Pakistan border.

According to the Army, Lynch enlisted in September 2007 and went to boot camp at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. He got to Fort Richardson in March 2008, and his unit deployed to Afghanistan in February and March of 2009.

Lynch returned from war in February, according to the Army.

Kip Lynch's mother, Terri Lynch of Jacksonville, Fla., on Monday said she was coming to Anchorage this week. The family released a short statement Tuesday through a family friend, Elizabeth Scarborough, in which they said they are still in shock at the deaths and trying to figure out how to deal with the tragedy.

"Kip proudly served his country in the Army in Afghanistan and had just returned home," the family said. "His family remembers him as a strong, spirited, good-humored and sweet young man. He loved his beautiful wife and daughter with all his heart. Words cannot express how much we will miss them."

The family declined to answer questions.

Find James Halpin online at adn.com/contact/jhalpin or call him at 257-4589.