Grandma Shot Self, Grandsons After Day Care Pickup, Authorities Say >>Hollywood

Debra Denison, a Connecticut grandmother, allegedly shot and killed her two grandsons Tuesday after picking them up at day care in a shocking story.

Denison chatted with day care workers as they helped load her two grandsons into her van after what had been a day full of smiles prior to the tragedy.

Alton Perry, 2, was celebrating his birthday.

Nothing seemed amiss, witnesses say, but instead of taking the children home as planned, Denison vanished Tuesday and left behind a suicide note. After a frantic search, she and her grandsons, 2-year-old Alton Perry and 6-month-old Ashton Perry, were found shot to death in an apparent murder-suicide.

"We've all gone over it in our heads," Salaun said. "Did she say something that we could have picked up on? But no, there was nothing alarming."

Relatives said Denison had struggled with mental health problems, but family and friends were left struggling to understand what could have prompted the violence.

"She would go along and have seasons where everything was A-OK, and other times when she would be depressed, running to the doctor and getting prescriptions," said Marcia White, a paternal great-grandmother of the slain boys. "She seemed to be doing well."

The boys' parents told WVIT-TV that Denison had split personalities and family members told WFSB-TV that she had bipolar disorder.

The bodies of 47-year-old Denison and the boys were found in a car parked near Lake of Isles