Arizona man ambushes, kills 3 — including wife and daughter — before killing himself

An Arizona man fatally shot his estranged wife, their 14-year-old daughter and his brother-in-law when he ambushed them inside his Phoenix home before killing himself on Tuesday, cops said.

The violence erupted after Michael Sanders, 53, allowed his 51-year-old wife, Carol, and their daughter, Audra, to go inside the Tatum Blvd. home to gather some belongings about 4 p.m. — just hours after the mother filed an order of protection against her estranged husband, 3TV reported.

The woman’s brother, Tom Fitzpatrick, 49, was waiting in a vehicle parked in the driveway of the home when the jilted husband — who parked his truck a block away — suddenly emerged with a handgun and opened fire, police told the news station.

“It certainly is a chilling case,” Phoenix police Sgt. Trent Crump told reporters. “We believe it was planned out.”

Crump said neighbors began calling 911 when the gunfire erupted.

“We understand, by witness accounts, that he first shot the brother seated in his truck in the front driveway,” Crump said.

“He then went into the home, where additional gunshots were heard. We believe that was the daughter and the mother. Ultimately, we believe he took his wife out back and set her body on fire.”

Cops arrived a short time later, thinking the shooter may still be alive. When teams of officers finally descended on the home, they found Fitzgerald dead in the driveway and the teen girl’s body inside the house.

Carol Sander’s corpse was still burning in the backyard, police said.

The accused killer was found more than a block away and dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said.

“I hadn’t seen a case that I can think of recently — I guess I’ve seen people burned — but it certainly is a horrific scene,” Crump said.

Police said they were called to the home about a month ago after Michael Sanders threatened to commit suicide.

One neighbor said he never imagined Sanders capable of ever causing any harm to his family, especially his daughter — who was just in the eighth grade.

“It took me by surprise, what actually happened, because he was very protective of his daughter,” the neighbor, Richard 

“He would walk her to the bus stop every morning. He would pick her up from the bus stop and walk her home.”