NASCAR star Jimmie Johnson withdrew from this weekend’s race after his in-laws and his 11-year-old nephew were found shot dead in their Oklahoma home in what cops suspect was an apparent murder-suicide.
Police in Muskogee, Oklahoma, say that Terry and Jack Janway were found dead late Monday alongside Dalton, their 11-year-old grandson. The authorities said that Terry Janway, 69, shot and killed her husband and grandson before turning the gun on herself.
Police responded to the incident after a woman called 911 to report a disturbance with a gun, Muskogee spokesperson Lynn Hamlin told ESPN. When police arrived, they found one person lying dead near the front of the house and then heard a gunshot from further inside.
Legacy Motor Club, the company in which Johnson is a co-owner, announced that Johnson would not be racing this weekend in Chicago. Terry and Jack Janway are the parents of Johnson’s wife, Chandra Janway.
“The Johnson family has asked for privacy at this time and no further statements will be made,” Legacy Motor Club said in a tweet.
NASCAR said in a statement they were “saddened by the tragic deaths of members of Chandra Johnson’s family” and were extending its “deepest support and condolences” to the families.
Johnson has been racing part-time this season with Legacy Motor Club, returning to the sport after retiring in 2020.
Muskogee Mayor Marlon Coleman told FOX 23 that the Janways were well-known members of their community. He said Jack Janway, 69, was a prominent chiropractor and that Coleman was one of his patients.
“It was traumatizing to find out that a long-standing family who had made so many contributions to our community were involved in this type of incident. It was even more bone-chilling to find out there was a child involved,” Coleman said. “I knew Dr. Janway. Dr. Janway has worked on me, we’ve been acquaintances for a very, very long time since I’ve been in Muskogee. Just knowing that it was him and his family took a different toll on me.”
Police say an investigation remains ongoing, but that they do not believe there is a threat to the community.
Johnson and Janway married in 2004, according to the New York Post. They have two children.
In 2014, Johnson lost his brother-in-law in a skydiving accident when Jordan Janway, 27, collided with another skydiver and was unable to open his parachute.
• Matthew Paras can be reached at mparas@washingtontimes.com.
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