'FATHER KILLS'

Father Kills Four Children Before Surrendering

A gunman kills four of his children and two adults before a dramatic three-hour stand-off 

in a suburban area in Texas. A father has shot dead four of his children after opening fire at a house in Texas.

The suspect also killed two adults and critically wounded his 15-year-old daughter before armed officers chased and cornered his silver car in Spring, a Houston suburb.

The suspected gunman eventually surrendered after a nearly three-hour stand-off with police.

The suspect was in the car for about three hours

First, he led police on a nearly half-hour pursuit, then his car was sandwiched between two police trucks in a residential cul-de-sac a few miles from the scene of the killings.

Despite being surrounded by marksmen, the suspect remained "cool as a cucumber", Sergeant Thomas Gilliland said.

There were "two hours of constant talking with a man armed with a pistol to his head and who had just killed six people", he said.

Police stopped the car about three miles from the scene of the shooting

After lengthy negotiations the suspect emerged from the vehicle with his hands raised, sinking to his knees before being arrested and detained.

When police arrived at the scene at around 6pm, they found two adults and three children dead.

Another child later died at a hospital.

The victims were two boys, aged four and 14, and two girls, aged seven and nine. The dead adults were a 39-year-old man and a 33-year-old woman.

The car was eventually cornered by an armoured truck

The gunman and his wife are estranged, and she was out of state at the time of the killings. Two of the dead children were adopted.

Assistant Chief Deputy Constable Mark Herman said: "It appears this stems from a domestic issue with a breakup in the family from what our witness has told us."

Talks continued into the night and the suspect eventually surrendered

Authorities did not release the victims' identities and did not say whether the adults who were killed were related to the children or their father.

The wounded teenager was able to call 911 and later warned deputies that her father planned to go to her grandparents' home to kill them, Sgt Gilliland said.

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