LAND O' LAKES -- The Pasco County Sheriff says it's a sign that we have a real mental health crisis and it's not going away.
Sheriff Chris Nocco says a woman shot and killed her two sons, one a nine-year-old and the other just three months old, and then turned the gun on herself. The children's father discovered all three dead Wednesday night and made the 9-1-1 call.
Nocco isn't revealing much but says up to 80% of the calls for service his deputies receive have a mental health component, and he says law enforcement is the "tip of the spear" in this crisis. He says it's time to break the stigma around mental illness, "pony up" and find some real answers. And Nocco says we cannot normalize suicide or homicide. He's created a page on the sheriff's website with resources.
The sheriff says the father will have to deal with this tragedy for the rest of his life.
Photo: Pasco County Sheriff's Office