According to an inquest, the headteacher of Epsom College Emma Pattison and her daughter Lettie, age 7, both passed away from gunshot wounds.
According to today’s testimony at the Surrey Coroner’s Court, Lettie was killed by a shotgun wound to the head while Mrs. Pattison died from shock, haemorrhage, and shotgun wounds to the chest and abdomen (Thursday March 2).
Police suspect that on the evening of February 5, Emma’s husband George Pattison, 39, killed the two inside their house on the college campus before shooting himself in the head.
The cause of George’s death was determined to be a shotgun wound to the head by an inquest that was opened earlier this week.
After Mrs. Pattison called her sister in distress, all three family members were discovered dead in their Surrey home.
A member of the college staff then reported hearing gunshots early on February 5, hours before police were able to confirm the fatalities.
A legally registered firearm belonging to Mr. Pattison was discovered there.
The boarding school has since confirmed no live ammunition is kept at its firing range.
Coroner Simon Wickens expressed his condolences to those who loved or knew Mrs Pattison and Lettie, whose full name was Ellette Francesca.
After the brief hearing into Mrs Pattison’s death, Mr Wickens said: “I would like to offer my condolences to Emma’s family and friends and also the wider community she served and also to the students whose lives she no doubt touched.”
Following their deaths, Mrs Pattison and Lettie’s loved ones said: “To see the esteem in which Emma is held by all who knew her is an enormous comfort.
“She was everything one could hope for in a daughter, sister, mother, wife, friend, teacher and so much more. We are an extremely close family and family was at the centre of Emma and Lettie’s universe.
“The Epsom College community had become part of that universe for them both.
“Seven-year-old Lettie was Emma’s pride and joy: an adorable, vibrant little girl with a compelling curiosity, a heart-melting smile and an intellect beyond her years.
“The two of them were inseparable and we take comfort in that they will remain so.
“Emma had a warm, welcoming smile and sparkling, blue eyes, full of optimism. Over the last 11 days we’ve noticed the sky has been bright blue, with at times a warm glow of pink.”
