Two Young Sisters Killed By Father Who Was Suicidal

A suicidal Oregon father shot dead his two daughters before ultimately killing himself in a confrontation with officers. Jaime Cortinas, 42, shot his two daughters, Janet Cortinas-Duran, eight, and Jasmine Duran-Cortinas, 11, before turning the gun on himself after he set his Land Rover on fire in a shootout with police.

Now, the girls have been pictured for the first time since their murders after memorials took place in Gresham, Oregon. Both girls attended Glenfair Elementary School, and students were told about the tragedy on Friday morning.

Additional counselors and teachers were on hand to offer support to students. The deadly altercation with police took place after Jaime's wife frantically called 911 informing officials that her husband had kidnapped her daughters on Wednesday morning.



When an officer spotted his dark Land Rover at a gas station parking lot and approached Jaime, the man fired at him with a handgun before setting his SUV on fire with his children inside the car.

The Gresham Police Department said on Thursday that an autopsy confirmed that Jaime had shot his daughters Janet and Jasmine multiple times before the blaze.

Officers smashed the car window to try to pull the children out of the back seat, but both were already dead. Jaime died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound from his .32-caliber handgun, according to the autopsy.

The girls' mother reported to police that her husband was armed, dangerous and suicidal, and had disappeared with their daughters early that morning, according to authorities.

A neighbor of the family never noticed any signs of brewing trouble.Robert Forthan said: 'There wasn’t anything abnormal and they seemed happy. I was really saddened, mainly [for] the kids. Their future is gone.'