Billings Family Left Shattered, Turns to Community to Bury Their Children

A Billings family is raising money for funeral expenses after two children were among those killed in Sunday night's shooting and house fire on White Star Circle.

Billings Police Confirm Timeline of White Star Circle Shooting

The 911 call came in at 6:01 p.m. Sunday, with gunfire audible in the background. The first officer reached the home at 315 White Star Circle at 6:12 p.m., and additional shots were fired shortly after. Within minutes, the house was fully engulfed in flames.

Billings Fire Chief Matt Hoppel said firefighters encountered gunfire at the scene, which delayed suppression efforts while crews worked to secure the area. A man found outside the home with a self-inflicted gunshot wound was taken to the hospital, where he later died.

Interim Yellowstone County Sheriff Kent O'Donnell said at a Monday news conference that "multiple adults and multiple juveniles" died at the residence and that the incident began as a family disturbance. He declined to release an official number, names, or ages, citing the ongoing investigation. The response involved Billings Police, the Yellowstone County Sheriff's Office, Montana Highway Patrol, the Billings Fire Department, Airport Fire, and Laurel Fire.

Billings Woman Jennifer Mercer Organizes GoFundMe for Family

A friend of the family, Jennifer Mercer, helped organize the fundraiser and reached out directly, asking the community to help spread the word. She said she worked with the children's mother to build the GoFundMe covering funeral expenses for two of the kids who were killed.

"I worked with the kids' mom to build a GoFundMe for the funeral expenses for two of the children that were killed," Mercer said. "I would be honored if you could ... share the information ... so that these parents do not have to worry about finances as they are simultaneously grieving the loss of their babies."

Billings GoFundMe Details Family's Loss of Landon and Charlotte

Because police have not released the identities of those killed, everything below about the family comes from Landon and Charlotte's Memorial Fund, the GoFundMe page Mercer helped build with the family.

According to that page, Landon was 15 and preparing to start his sophomore year at Senior High School. The family describes him as a patient, protective big brother who was days away from getting his driver's license and was always ready to help a family member or neighbor.

His sister Charlotte was 12 and getting ready for seventh grade. The GoFundMe describes her as funny, precocious, and stubborn in the best way, with a smile people remember and a love of turning over rocks in the yard to look for bugs.

The same GoFundMe states that six other family members died alongside Landon and Charlotte, for a total of eight family members lost. Police and the sheriff's office have not confirmed that count and, as of this writing, have released no official total. It is not clear how many children in total were among those killed. Sheriff O'Donnell confirmed only that "multiple juveniles" died at the scene, without specifying a number.

The fund says it will help cover memorial and funeral costs for the children and support their mother, Erica Jarussi Schneider, her husband Danny, and the children's grandmother, Arneen, as the family navigates what organizers call an unimaginable loss.

Firefighter Adam Loses Wife and Children in Shooting

A separate GoFundMe, "Support Adam After the Unimaginable Loss", has been set up for the children's father, identified there as Adam, an Airport Rescue Firefighter. According to that fundraiser, organized by his coworkers, Adam lost his wife, children, and other family members in the same incident.

The page states that donations will go toward funeral and memorial costs, time away from work, counseling, and other expenses tied to the tragedy. Organizers describe Adam as someone who has spent his career responding to other people's worst days and say the goal now is to give him room to grieve without worrying about work or bills.

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Editor's note: Names and family details in this story are drawn from the family's own GoFundMe pages, which have been publicly shared by the family and Jennifer Mercer. Billings police and the Yellowstone County Sheriff's Office have not yet officially released the identities of those killed.