Why Would a Normal Mother....? She Wouldn't & She Didn't!

Update: Christopher Vaughn was arrested 6/23/2007 on 8 counts of murder! Justice will prevail. May his beautiful wife and 3 lovely children truly rest in peace.

When I read on http://www.foxnews.com/ that a mother & her three children were shot and killed in a red SUV, but the father survived with only a gunshot wound to the leg: I thought how devastating, to lose your entire family, at once.
As the next 24 hours unraveled and the investigation proceeded, the surviving father indicated his wife, of nearly 13 years shot him, then their children, before taking her own life.
Why, why, why? All indications given during interviews with family, friends and neighbors the couple, Christopher & Kimberly Vaughn, were a happily married couple, devoted to their three children.
Christopher Vaughn told investigators that the family was headed to a Springfield, MS. water park for a day trip. They left their family home in the Chicago, IL suburb of Oswega in the pre-dawn hours. Within 40 miles of their adventure 4 peoples lives were violently taken. Christopher Vaughn told investigators he stopped to check the luggage, on top of the SUV, and when he started to get back into the SUV, his wife started firing a gun at him, causing him to flee in fear.
Kimberly Vaughn was a beautiful 34 year-old, loving and protective mother. All reports indicate she was not mentally ill. Why then did she kill Abigayle, Cassandra, and Blake? Why did she do this, within days of celebrating her 13 wedding anniversary, at the same bed and breakfast at which she honeymooned? Why did she shoot her children multiple times? I have counted and recounted, "multiply times" would have to indicate at least 8 bullets were fired. This leads me to two more questions; how many bullets does a handgun hold and did she reload the gun?
The question that I find most perplexing; Why would a family, taking a day trip, to a water park need luggage? I have asked myself this question, countless times, since news reports indicated that Christopher Vaughn implicated his wife in the shootings.
Three older children ages 8,11, and 12 would not need floaties, diapers or strollers. All I can imagine that would be necessary for a day trip to a water park, is flip flops, a swimsuit , a towel and possibly an extra change of clothes, but the extra change of clothes would be a stretch. The family was traveling in a Ford Expedition, which seats 8 adults and has a large storage area, behind the rear seat, with more than enough room for an ice-chest and three large suitcases. There would be no reason to have an extra luggage carrier strapped to the top of the Expedition, for a day trip to a water park.
How do I know this? I have a Ford Expedition. We traveled from Midland Texas to Las Vegas, NV for 5 days with three kids and did not need to use our luggage rack and we also took 2 cases of bottled water.
What could they have packed that required the upper luggage rack?
Possibly a gun! Could Christopher Vaughn have planned to slaughter his entire family and conveniently hid the gun in the luggage rack?
News reports indicate gunshot residue tests have been performed on Kimberly Vaughn and Christopher Vaughn. When these results are analysed many of these questions will be answered. Christopher Vaughn has not been named a suspect and by all accounts is cooperating fully with police. Women very rarely commit suicide, by shooting themselves, and the mothers that have committed infanticide in the past have seldom used a gun.
The whole episode was unduly violent and leaves many unanswerable questions. Please keep the Vaughn family in your prayers and pray for the investigators to have a clear picture of what happened in the early morning hours of June 14th 2007.