Police say Nicholas D. Arruda, 39, shot and killed his pregnant wife, Danielle, 39, and their two young children. “My brother committed the most cowardly despicable act one could perpetrate,” Arruda’s brother said.

Seattle police say a cryptic phone call helped them save two teenage girls who’d been kidnapped. The department says a 14-year-old called 911 around 1:30 Monday morning, pretending to order pizza, and told dispatch she couldn’t speak freely.

WEST GREENWICH − A 39-year-old West Greenwich man last week shot and killed his pregnant wife and his two children and then died by suicide, police said Wednesday morning. Nicholas Arruda shot and killed 39-year-old Danielle Arruda, their 5-year-old daughter and their 2-year-old son, according to West Greenwich Police Chief Richard N. Ramsay.

A West Greenwich family was killed as a result of a murder-suicide, the West Greenwich Police Department said on Wednesday.

A man shot and killed his pregnant wife and their two children before he killed himself, according to authorities.

According to West Greenwich police, Nicholas Arruda, 39, shot and killed Danielle Arruda, 39, Adele Arruda, 5, and Felix Arruda, 2, before turning the gun on himself. Danielle Arruda was seven months pregnant at the time of her death.

Four family members who were found dead in a Rhode Island home last week were the victims of a triple murder-suicide, law enforcement officials announced Wednesday.