911 call: Houseguests heard 10 shots at Morrisville home

"I know they're having problems," a man told emergency dispatcher.

That man and his wife were visiting Melissa and Johnathan Preston at 2016 Weaver Forest Way when they heard the shots. The couple quickly went outside and called 911.

“I’m not going up there,” the caller said. He described the Prestons as "close friends."

Police found the Prestons dead in their bedroom, and they said neighbors had no reason to fear that a gunman might be on the loose.

By Tuesday afternoon, the Town of Morrisville had declared the deaths a murder-suicide, but there was no word on which member of the couple did the shooting. 

The Prestons' three children were at school at the time and were put in the care of family members, police said.

The family moved to the Triangle from Seattle last year and were renting the home in the Providence Place neighborhood where the shooting occurred, according to neighbors. 

Investigators removed several firearms from the home, and neighbors said Johnathan Preston liked to take his children out to shooting ranges.

Johnathan Preston was an executive with Microsoft, and his wife designed and sold jewelry. The family planned to return to the Pacific Northwest in June.