Massachusetts police are hunting 22-year-old Ryan Hanafin after his mother was found dead of a gunshot wound in their Reading home, and authorities warn he may be armed.
Reading police received a 911 call around 12:38 a.m. Thursday from Matthew Hanafin, 48, who had returned to the family’s Center Avenue home and found his wife, Andria Hanafin, 49, dead in the kitchen of a gunshot wound.
Fox News reported that investigators quickly identified the couple’s older son, Ryan Hanafin, as a person of interest and launched a manhunt. A 13-year-old child was also present in the home.
Officials have not announced charges or a warrant. They have released Ryan’s description, a police photo, and the vehicle he is believed to be driving, and they have told the public to treat the situation as a live public-safety threat.
Reading Police Chief David J. Clark said Ryan Hanafin should be considered potentially armed and dangerous even while listed only as a person of interest.
Clark told the public:
"By all means, please do not approach him. Please contact 911, the local police department, whatever, if you see the vehicle or come across him. We are urging people to stay safe and not put themselves in danger."
Police say Ryan is about 5 feet, 10 inches tall and may be driving a black 2010 Dodge Charger with Massachusetts license plate 2PSY15. Anyone who spots the car or the young man is being told to call 911, not to intervene.
Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan laid out what investigators had learned so far at a news briefing streamed by local media.
Matthew Hanafin told investigators he had not spoken with his older son since Wednesday morning. The younger son was out with friends until around 9 p.m., then told police he went straight to his bedroom when he got home and did not see his mother.
Hours later, near 12:38 a.m., Matthew returned home, found Andria dead in the kitchen, and called police. That sequence is what authorities have put on the record. Motive, manner-of-death classification beyond the gunshot wound, and Ryan’s precise legal status have not been released.
DA Ryan also said there was "no significant history" of police calls to the family home, a detail that undercuts any easy assumption of a long, documented domestic crisis known to local law enforcement.
As of the Fox News account, Ryan Hanafin remains a person of interest in a developing investigation. No arrest, charging document, or formal warrant status appears in the available official statements. Reading police have released his image and the vehicle description and asked the public for tips while the manhunt continues.
That distinction matters. Police can warn that someone is potentially armed and dangerous, and still have more work to do before filing charges. Families and neighbors are left with a dead mother, a missing older son, a younger child who was in the house, and a community told to stay alert and stay back.
When a parent is found shot dead at home and the older son becomes the focus of a manhunt, the first duty of local government is clear: find him, secure the public, and build a case that can stand in court, not leave a town guessing while a black Charger is still on the road.
