PEDERSEN...Peterson? What Is Going On?

This is almost unbelievable. A man in Britain has killed his two young children, ages 6 and 7. He stabbed them to death. Then he killed himself. The man's name? Michael Pedersen. That is a form of the name Peterson. See my blog from Saturday, 9/29. Unbelievable. Sad. Eerie.

51-year-old Michael Pederson.

I read the story Monday night on UK Daily Mail. They have since updated it with additional info and pictures. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2211181/Newton-Stacey-deaths-Bodies-Michael-Pedersen-2-young-children-near-Andover.html.

Pederson and 6-year-old son Ben.

Apparently this man Pedersen, who was my age (51), was semi-famous as a survivor of an attack that occurred 30 years ago in London's Hyde Park. He rode one of the horses (Sefton) in the Household Brigade which was on its way to the changing of the guard. Suddenly an IRA nail bomb exploded, wounding Pedersen and killing 12 military personnel, 7 of their horses, and 6 civilians at 10:40 a.m. on July 20, 1982. Pedersen was a young man of 21 years when the tragic event occurred.

Carnage after the 1982 IRA attack in Hyde Park.

This marker in Hyde Park, Lonon, reads in part:
"On 20 July 1982 at this spot a terrorist bomb exploded
as The Queen's Life Guard was passing.
Four members of The Blues and Royals lost their lives.
Twelve soldiers and six ivilians were killed. Seven horses died."

Pedersen had recently split from his wife, Erica, and posted messages on Facebook indicating he was distraught. He took his son, Ben, and his daughter, Freya, out into the countryside where he stabbed them and then himself on Sunday evening, September 30.

You can check the UK Daily Mail as it adds updates and photos as information is available.

I still am amazed that this man was named Pederson, in the wake of the Peterson murder suicides last week in Herndon, Virginia.