A man murdered five people including his three children and a chaperone before killing himself on a supervised visit at a Church in Sacramento, California last Monday afternoon.
An employee of the Church heard the gunshots and called 911, said the authorities. Deputies came in response in the place around 5:00 p.m. and they found five dead individuals including the gunman at the church in the Arden-Arcade neighborhood, said Sgt. Rod Grassmann with the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office.
The three children killed were all females, aged 9, 10, and 13, Grassmann added.
"It's just horrific," as described by Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones in an interview. "Killing innocent children is beyond anyone's rational comprehension," he added.
Sheriff Jones explained that the mother of the children had a restraining order against the father of the children. If that's the case, the Sheriff said that he must not be allowed to have a weapon.
The children were on a supervised visit with their father with the church being the neutral location for their visit. The person in charge of supervising the visit got killed also, said the sheriff in an interview.
Sheriff's officials would be investigating the incident as domestic violence and considered as an isolated case. The reason behind the killings is still unknown.
The mother of the children doesn't live in town, hence, she rushed into the scene after knowing what happened.
The names and information of the victims and the murderer cannot be disclosed yet, the authorities said. As the investigation is still ongoing, the authorities believed that there are no outside victims and suspect other than the confirmed people involved.
In the briefing Sheriff Jones gave, there's still no update on whether the incident happened inside or outside the church.
They were unsure whether the family members belonged to the Church, which is located mostly in residential blocks near the commercial area of East downtown Sacramento.
Based on the website of the Church in Sacramento, they cater to English, Chinese and Spanish worshippers. On that day, no events were listed on their online calendar.
The neighborhood could agree that the area is not the safest since they keep seeing incidents and police but hearing the news about a father killing his children near their area fears them.
"It's unbelievable and crazy," said the person who lives just across the church in an interview. The neighborhood was said to be wide awake that night because of what happened.
Governor Gavin Newsom and his team were working with the local law enforcement. He expressed his lamentation on Twitter, "Another senseless act of gun violence in America-this time in our backyard. In a church with kids inside. Devastating."
Meanwhile, the Mayor of Sacramento posted in a tweet saying, "This is an unspeakable tragedy. It happens too often, and tonight it happened in our backyard. The first thoughts are with the victims and their families. Same to the first responders who have to confront such a horrible scene. Will say more as we learn more."
