YOU NEED TO KNOW
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A Kenosha Police Department search warrant has revealed new information about a Thanksgiving apartment fire that killed three children, only their father survived
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Joshua Kannin, who was treated for smoke inhalation, told police that after waking up to what appeared to be fire, he “panicked” and ran out the front door to try to get help – and that upon his return, he could hear his children inside, but couldn’t reach them.
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The cause of the fire is still under investigation
Wisconsin father Joshua Kannin told police he panicked after realizing his house was on fire, leaving his three children inside while he ran to get help, according to a search warrant. He ended up being the sole survivor – and now their mother is wondering why he left their children behind.
Jourdan Feasby tells PEOPLE she spent Thanksgiving morning with her three children — Rylee, 10, Connor, 9 and Alena, 7 — before dropping them off at their dad’s two-story apartment. Hours later, she learned that her boys had died in a fire and her daughter had been hospitalized.
At the hospital with their daughter, who later died, Feasby says she asked Kannin, “Don’t you get the kids first?”
“Things weren’t picking up,” she says.
Kannin told police that around 9:00 pm on November 27, Rylee and Conner went to sleep in their bedroom on the second floor. He himself went to sleep about an hour later, at which time his daughter “was awake” and inside the room.
According to a search warrant obtained by PEOPLE, Kannin said that when he woke up a short time later — officers responded to the fire shortly before 11:00 pm — his “eyes felt cloudy” and that when he went downstairs, he saw “a little fire on the kitchen floor.”
“Joshua stated that he panicked and ran out the front door,” police wrote, and said the father told them he thought to himself, “I have to get help.”
As he was banging on his neighbor’s door, yelling for help, he yelled at his children to come down, according to the warrant.
“I opened the door (to his residence) and I heard my children. I tried to go back in, but the smoke just came over me and I couldn’t see. I barely entered two steps and I had to turn back,” Kannin was quoted as saying to the police. “When I opened the door, it made it even worse.”
He also stated that before going to sleep, he had a cigarette in the kitchen near the sink, but he believes he put it out before going to sleep.
GoFundMe
From left, Connor, Rylee and Alena Kannin
When first responders arrived, they found two children who were believed to be dead — later identified as siblings Rylee and Connor — and another child who was severely burned.
The area where they were found is the kitchen/dining room area of the apartment, Feasby tells PEOPLE.
Alena, described in the report as being found either in the second floor bedroom or near the stairs, was taken to a nearby hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries.
Kannin was taken to a nearby hospital where he was treated for smoke inhalation. Feasby says he was released the next morning.
In response to the release of a search warrant, the Kenosha Police Department issued a clarification on the status of their ongoing investigation.
The warrant said investigators were looking into the possibility of arson and a potential homicide. Under Wisconsin law, law enforcement must describe potential criminal charges when applying for a search warrant in order to establish probable cause.
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The search warrant that was made public was drafted on the night of the fire after Kannin’s black Samsung cell phone was recovered at the scene. The phone was subsequently searched pursuant to the warrant. That search revealed no evidence of criminal activity related to the fire.
“As the investigation progresses, along with the Kenosha Fire Department, they will continue to methodically rule out all possible causes of the fire,” KPD spokesman Lt. Joshua Hecker told PEOPLE. “This is a complex and evolving case, and we remain committed to a thorough, impartial and evidence-driven investigation.”
On Friday, services were held for the three brothers. Feasby, who spoke about her children during the services, says that Kannin attended, but did not speak to the deceased gathered there. A GoFundMe has been set up to cover funeral expenses.
Officials had no update when reached by PEOPLE on Monday, Dec. 8.
Read the original article on People