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Dad shot wife, kids before setting fire to tennis star’s home

The patriarch of a wealthy Florida family systemically shot his wife and two children in the head, rigged the house with fireworks and lit it on fire before committing suicide Wednesday, according to police.

Police confirmed the deadly blaze in the $1.5 million mansion of former tennis champ James Blake was intentionally set by Darrin Campbell, who rented the home from Blake for the past two years, before he sealed the deal with a murder-suicide.

“This is certainly disturbing,” Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Col. Donna Lusczynski said at a press conference Friday afternoon. “Nobody likes to see this kind of tragedy.”

Police received a call at 5:45 a.m. Wednesday reporting a massive fire at the exclusive Avila five-bedroom mansion, according to Debbie Carter, a spokeswoman for the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Department.

The bodies of the picture-perfect family were discovered throughout the home, with both teenagers — Colin, 19, and Megan, 16 — found in their respective bedrooms. Campbell and his wife, Kimberly, 51, were discovered in the same bedroom.

While the reason behind Campbell’s decision to kill his family is still unclear, police now know he used a Sig Sauer handgun, registered to him and purchased in 2013 at Shoot Straight in Tampa. Campbell does not have a criminal record and police are launching a financial audit to see if money problems played into his plan.

Video footage shows Campbell purchasing cartloads of fireworks totaling $600 early Sunday. Those same fireworks were found rigged throughout the 5,856-square-foot estate along with gallons of gas he purchased from two separate gas stations to ignite the blaze.

Firefighters battled the “unusual” fire for about three hours, longer than it would usually take, because they were working with authorities to preserve the house for their investigation, according to Chit Shields, spokesman for Hillsborough Fire Rescue.

The blaze engulfed the front portion of the mansion, producing a “firestorm that created its own wind.”

Top to bottom: Darrin Campbell and his two teenage children, Megan and Colin. Authorities have yet to establish a motive for the murder-suicide.

Firefighters worked from the garage up, trying their best to enforce thin pieces of wood that were holding up floors to make it easier for the police to conduct their investigation.

Blake had been renting to the Campbell family for the last two years. Lusczynski said the family was “seemingly normal.”

“These kids were highly respected and liked,” she said at the press conference.

Friends of Megan — a junior at Carrollwood Day School, a private school where her father acted as the treasurer — mourned the tragic loss of their friend on social media using hashtags #CDSStrong and #prayforthecampbells.

Megan was an active dancer at the All American Dance Factory, which is in the process of creating a scholarship in Megan’s name.

“We are all broken-hearted,” All American Dance Factory posted on Facebook. “Rest in Peace Megan and Dance with the Angels!”

Colin, a senior at CDS, was an avid baseball player who had just attended his senior prom a month ago.

“There’s definitely a new angel in the outfield now,” one of Colin’s buddies tweeted. “Missing you guys more then anything right now RIP Campbell family You will be missed.”

Police will wrap up their investigation at the home in the next couple days while they continue to search for answers into what would drive Campbell to commit these violent acts against his family.

“Any time this happens, it’s a tragedy,” Lusczynski said.