Family of 5 shot dead in murder-suicide at Maine home

USPA News - A family of five, including three young children, were found shot to death Sunday in a suspected murder-suicide at an apartment in the U.S. state of Maine, state police said on Monday. A possible motive for the killings was not immediately known.

The bodies were discovered at about 1:24 p.m. local time on Sunday when a worker went to check on the family after a family friend became concerned something had happened. "The worker entered the apartment and discovered one of the bodies," said Steve McCausland, a spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety. The gruesome discovery was made on the second floor of the Riverview Apartment Complex in Saco, a city in York County in the southwestern portion of Maine. It was not yet clear when the victims died, though neighbors said they heard what they believed to be "fireworks" at around 11:30 p.m. on Saturday. McCausland said it appeared all five family members were shot to death in an apparent murder-suicide. "A gun was found near one of the bodies. ... Saco officers discovered the five bodies inside in three different rooms.," he said. All five victims were found in their beds. The deceased were identified as a man and a woman both in their 30s, and their children ages 4, 7 and 9. A deputy state medical examiner arrived at the scene late in the afternoon, after which the bodies were transported to the State Medical Examiner`s Office in Augusta for examination and autopsy on Monday. "A dozen detectives and officers from State and Saco Police have been at the apartment complex investigating the deaths," McCausland said. A possible motive for the killings was not immediately known.