A 51-year-old man killed his daughter and six grandchildren in Florida before shooting himself dead Thursday, officials said.
Donald C. Spirit called 911 around 4 p.m. and told the authorities he might harm himself and others around him. As the emergency dispatch team arrived at Spirit's Bell house, they saw seven dead bodies around the house. Spirit had committed suicide by then.
Gilchrist County Sheriff Robert Schultz at a news conference, dentified the deceased as Sarah Lorraine Spirit, 28; Kaleb Kuhlmann, 11; Kylie Kuhlmann, 9; Johnathon Kuhlmann, 8; Destiny Stewart, 5; Brandon Stewart, 4; and Alanna Stewart, who was born in June, reports the Associated Press.
"This is a small county. We're all family here. ... There are certain things in life you can explain, and there are some things you can't," Schultz said, according to the Orlando Sentinel. "We will continue to be family, and we will work through this. We are asking for prayers for this community and the families involved."
The motive behind the shooting was unclear and Schultz did not say whether the murder weapon was recovered.
The officials said Spirit had accidentally shot his 9-year-old son Kyle in 2001. They both were on a hunting trip to the Three Lakes Wildlife Management Area near rural Kenansville, about 50 miles southeast of Orlando. As Spirit was cleaning rust from the barrel of his hunting rifle, a bullet was discharged and struck Kyle in the head. The boy died on the spot, reports Miami Herald.
The Florida Department of Corrections website stated that Spirit was released from prison in February 2006 for a gun charge after being in jail for three years. He was previously held on drug conviction charges too.
