A welfare check in an upscale Houston neighborhood on May 4 led to the discovery of four relatives who were fatally shot inside their southeast Texas home, police said.
The deaths of a 4-year-old boy, an 8-year-old girl, a 52-year-old man and a 39-year-old woman are being investigated as a murder-suicide, the Houston Police Department said in a May 5 news release.
"This does look like a family matter, but that doesn't make it any better," Detective L. Brooks told reporters during a news conference after the discovery. "It's terrible... shocking for sure."
Officers responded to the family's home in the city's River Oaks neighborhood at about 5:30 p.m. CT on May 4, after a babysitter alerted authorities she had not heard from the family for 24 hours.
Arriving officers entered the home and found all four members unresponsive, police said. The children were found dead in their beds.
