Two minors and a woman are dead after an apparent domestic situation at a home near Los Angeles, KABC-TV reports.
Police fired on the woman, a San Bernardino County probation officer, after she barricaded herself inside the residence. The woman’s husband called 911 at 2:30 a.m. Saturday and told dispatchers that someone inside the home was hurt, but he had not specified further details, The Los Angeles Times reports.
Paramedics and officers approached the residence and knocked on the door, prepared to give medical care. The husband then opened the door and walked outside, clearly having been shot, according to the newspaper.
The woman could be seen through the doorway holding a weapon and gunfire soon ensued, although it is not yet clear who fired first. The woman barricaded herself inside, prompting a standoff for five hours.
A SWAT team eventually entered the home and found the woman and two “school-age” minors dead.
The children’s deaths were “believed to be as a result of an act that occurred prior to our arrival,” Sgt. Bill Russell told the television station.
It was not immediately clear whether the woman had shot at police, Russell said.
Investigators are assessing whether she was killed by gunfire from police or whether she committed suicide. The husband, who was shot, was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries.
He “is unable to communicate right now,” Russell told KABC-TV, “so we haven’t gotten a lot of answers as far as what led to the call to us in the first place.”
The deceased victims are an elementary-age boy and a teenage girl, according to the Times.
Investigators are speaking with the couple’s relatives and checking whether police have ever been called to the home previously.
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