A family of four is dead after a mother allegedly shot and killed her children and husband before shooting herself while vacationing at a resort in Galveston, Texas.
KPRC reports that police found Mauricio Morales and his two sons ages five and 10 found dead in an eighth-floor room at the San Luis Resort early Monday morning. Flor De Maria Pineda Canas, 37, was found critically injured and later died at a hospital.
Police responded to a report of gunshot sounds coming from the eighth floor at about 4:30 a.m., and responding officers reportedly heard moaning from inside the room when they first arrived, and forced their way into the room where they found the bodies.
Canas is believed to have shot Morales and their two sons before turning the gun on herself.
“Detectives with the Major Crimes Division have been able to confirm that this family arrived at the San Luis Resort and checked in around 7 p.m. last night (Sunday),” Galveston Police Captain Joshua Schirard told the news station.
“The motive is unknown at this time, but forensic data collected at the scene indicates that the female is believed to be the shooter at this time, and is believed to have killed her two children and her husband before apparently taking her own life with a 9mm handgun found adjacent to her body.”
Police told the news station that the father and sons may have been asleep when they were shot, as investigators did not see any sign of struggle. A motive for the apparent murder-suicide is not yet known, and those who knew the family were shocked by the news.
”I said to my husband, ‘I want to call her cellphone and see if she answers,’ because I don’t believe it,” neighbor Kelly Hartman told KPRC.
“You wouldn’t think of anything happening. Nothing strange about that family.”
“I don’t see it,” Davis continued.
“Anything is possible, but my God, I don’t see it.”
This is a developing story, and will be updated as more information becomes available.
[Feature image: Facebook/Mauricio Morales and Flor De Maria Pineda Canas]