4 Kids Killed in Calif. Murder-Suicide

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. (More California stories.)