Nicholas Waggoner Browning was charged with four counts of first-degree murder in the slayings of his father, John Browning, 45; his mother Tamara, 44; and his brothers Gregory, 13, and Benjamin, 11. He was charged as an adult.
Browning was arrested at 1:05 a.m. Sunday after he admitted to the killings, Baltimore County Police spokesman Bill Toohey said.
The teen had a disagreement with his father and used his father's handgun to kill his family Friday night, Toohey said. After the slayings he threw the gun away in bushes near his house.
Browning then spent Friday night and all day Saturday with friends, Toohey said. When the friends took him back to his house at 5 p.m. Saturday, Browning went into the house and came back out to say that his father was dead.
Browning was denied bail Sunday morning; bail review will be conducted Monday. He was being held at the Baltimore County Detention Center in a special section for juveniles.
The grounds of the two-story home were neat and neighbor Mike Thomas said the Brownings would even pick up trash along the street.
"These people would do anything in the world for you - just incredible people," Thomas said.
Neighbors called each other throughout the night to discuss the killings, Thomas said.
He said one of his sons had been in Boy Scouts with one of the Brownings' sons and was devastated when he learned of the deaths. Thomas said he recently sold Browning a trailer that Browning planned to use for Boy Scout outings, and it was still parked in the Brownings' driveway Sunday.
