In US church, man fatally shoots his 3 children, one other, before killing self

A man has shot and killed his three children and their chaperone before killing himself in a gun violence at a church in Sacramento, California.

Policemen responding to reports of gunfire around 5 p.m. local time on Monday found five people dead, including the shooter, in the Arden-Arcade neighborhood, Sgt. Rod Grassmann from the Sacramento County Sheriff’s office was quoted as saying.

Grassmann told reporters near the scene that the shooting stemmed from a domestic dispute as the victims “knew each other.”

“This was not a random shooting,” Grassmann said, adding that his forces were looking for clues of the killer’s motive for the atrocity, which took place on Monday afternoon.

The three slain children were all juveniles, aged 9, 10, and 13. He didn’t specify their gender. The age of another adult victim was not immediately identified by investigators, Grassmann said.

A fire official previously said that the fifth person found dead was identified as the shooter’s wife.

Local television station KTVU cited Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones as saying that investigators believe the shooting took place during a supervised visit between the father and the children, while the fourth victim was the supervisor in the scene.