4 Kids Killed in Calif. Murder-Suicide

Apparent murder-suicide hits rich Santa Clara neighborhood

By Kevin Spak, Newser Staff

Posted Mar 30, 2009 9:43 AM CDT

(Newser) – Six people, including at least three children and one teenager or young adult, were killed in a shooting last night in an upscale neighborhood in Northern California, the San Jose Mercury News reports. A seventh person is in critical condition. Police don’t think anyone is at large. “It could be a homicide-suicide,” one policeman said. “It appears the suspect may be among the deceased.”

Neighbors in the Rivermark townhome development in Santa Clara, near the Sun Microsystems campus, called police at 8:30 last night, suspecting something was amiss in the house. Police arrived to find five dead, and a woman and toddler in critical condition. The toddler, a girl between the age of 1 and 2, died overnight. All seven victims suffered gunshot wounds; police are still verifying their identities, ages, and whether they belong to the same family.

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Six people are dead, including the suspected killer, in a shooting in Santa Clara. (Shutterstock)

Santa Clara police respond to the shooting in this screenshot from local television. (CBS5)

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It just simply never happens here. I mean never. We are in hard times here. - Jane Thornton, a neighborhood resident

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4 Kids Killed in Calif. Murder-Suicide