READING, Mass. — A 22-year-old man was taken into custody in Vermont more than 12 hours after his mother was found shot to death inside their family’s Reading home.
State police arrested Ryan Hanafin around 2:30 p.m. Thursday in Warren, Vermont, after stopping him. He is being held on a fugitive-from-justice charge and is expected to appear in Vermont Superior Court Friday afternoon.
The arrest came after Hanafin’s father returned to their Center Avenue home from work early Thursday and found his wife, 49-year-old Andria Hanafin, dead from a gunshot wound.
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Neighbors remembered Andria Hanafin as kind and caring, with a passion for helping cats, and she often fostered animals in her home.
“We knew the family; we knew Andria really well. Just really a terrible tragedy,” a neighbor told Boston 25 News
Elizabeth Coppla, a friend of the family, said Hanafin’s generosity extended beyond animals.
“She helped so many other people besides the animals. She was just a good human being. The world is a darker place without her here,” Coppla said.
Ryan Hanafin is expected to eventually be returned to Massachusetts, though authorities have not said what charges he could face here.
On Thursday, Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan said Hanafin had multiple registered firearms and that the shooting death of his mother likely stemmed from a domestic dispute.
“We have an individual who did have a license to carry, who does have some guns that were registered to him,” Ryan said. “It’s a moment of reflection on the presence of guns in a home during an alleged dispute.”
Ryan also called the incident “shocking and tragic,” noting the family also has a daughter and a 13-year-old son.
An investigation remains ongoing.
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