- Deceased found in Santa Clarita, California, were described as a man in his 50s, his wife in her 40s, their 20-something daughter and 11-year-old son
- Bodies were discovered by police performing welfare check at the request of a family friend
- Cops say it is believed the husband killed his family, then himself, with the same handgun recovered from the scene
A family of four, including a child, were found shot to death in a Southern California home doubling as a neighborhood day care center early Friday, in what investigators are calling a murder-suicide carried out by the father.
The victims found in a residence in the 28800 block of Startree Lane in Santa Clarita included a man in his 50s, a woman in her 40s, another woman in her 20s and a boy aged 11 or 12, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
All four were pronounced dead at the scene shortly before 7am. They family’s two-story property housed a home day care center in a development below foothills of the Angeles National Forest about 35 miles north of downtown Los Angeles.
Triple murder-suicide: A family of four, including an 11-year-old boy, were found shot to death Friday morning at a home day care center on Startree Lane in Santa Clarita, California
It is unclear how long the victims had been deceased before they were discovered by deputies performing a welfare check at the request of a family friend.
No identities have been released as of Friday afternoon, but a neighbor told ABC Eyewitness News the wife operated the child care center a couple of day a week and her husband was a driver. The couple reportedly had a college-age daughter and an 11-year-old son.
Homicide detectives responded to the scene but no suspects were being sought.
Assistant Chief Ed Winter, of the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office, told Santa Clarita Valley Signal that the manner of death for three of the victims was homicide and for the fourth – a suicide.
All four sustained gunshot wounds in the upper torso, according to officials. The supposed murder weapon, a handgun, was recovered from the scene, Lt. Rodney Moore, with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, said at a press conference Friday.
Police believe the husband killed his wife, daughter and son, then turned the gun on himself