A Houston father shot dead his 4 children and two adults and critically injured a 15-year-old daughter, late Wednesday.
The man identified as 34-year-old Ron Lee Haskell, surrendered following a standoff and was in police custody, authorities said. The deceased children were aged between 4 and 13 and Haskell's relationship with the 39-year-old man and 33-year-old woman who were killed was unknown.
The injured girl was taken to Memorial Hermann Hospital. She called 911 and later told the authorities that Haskell planned to go to her grandparents' home to kill them. "Grandparents were also targets of him," said Sgt. Thomas Gilliland from Harris County Sheriff's Office,, reports KSAT. "Fortunately, they were brought out of the house before that could happen, and we would have had more tragedy."
Two of the dead children were adopted and rest were biological, said Sgt. Gilliland.
Haskell surrendered after a three-hour long standoff. During much of the standoff, Haskell reportedly held a gun to his head, while deputies surrounded him.
The motive of the shooting remains unclear. According to the authorities, Haskell and his wife are separated and he lives out of state.
"It appears this stems from a domestic issue with a breakup in the family from what our witness has told us," assistant chief deputy constable Mark Herman of the Harris County Precinct 4 office told the Associated Press.
Neighbours Danna Stevens, 75, and her husband, Texas Stevens, live four doors down from the home where the shooting happened. However, they were not at home at the time of the incident. She told AP that she didn't know her neighbors well and that they had moved into the subdivision about a year ago.
Gilliland said the authorities were planning to charge Haskell.
