Father arrested for ‘shooting dead four children and mother-in-law’ at California home

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A father has been arrested for allegedly shooting dead his four children and his mother-in-law at a home in California.

The victims were discovered on Sunday night at a home in Lancaster, a city north of Los Angeles in the high desert Antelope Valley, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LACSD) said in a news release.

The woman, a girl and three boys were all pronounced dead at the scene of gunshot wounds to the upper torso. None of the victims have been named publicly.

One of the boys was an infant and all of the children were under the age of 12, police said. The bodies were found by the children’s mother, who is also the daughter of the woman killed, FOX LA reported.

Police announced the arrest of the children’s father, identified by FOX LA as 29-year-old Germarcus David, on Monday. Mr David was detained for questioning after he turned up at the lobby of the Lancaster sheriff’s station shortly after the shootings.

LACSD spokesperson Deputy Juanita Navarro said officers were sent to the home on the 3500 block of Garnet Lane just before 10.30pm on a “rescue responding” call, meaning paramedics had already been dispatched there.

The motive for the shootings remains unclear as the investigation is ongoing. Jail records show Mr David’s bail is set at $2m.

Anyone with information about the killings is urged to contact the Sheriff’s Department Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500 or Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.