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Florida shooting: man kills six grandchildren and daughter in murder-suicide Florida shooting: man kills six grandchildren and daughter in murder-suicide
(35 minutes later)
A Florida grandfather shot dead his six grandchildren and his daughter before killing himself, a local sheriff said Thursday. A grandfather shot and killed his daughter and six grandchildren at his Florida home on Thursday before turning his gun on himself, law enforcement officials in Florida said.
The incident occurred near Bell, a town of about 500 located roughly 35 miles west of Gainesville. The children’s ages ranged from three months to 10 years, Gilchrist County sheriff Robert Schultz announced at a press conference in Bell, a small town in central Florida about 30 miles west of Gainesville.
Gilchrist County Sheriff Robert Schultz at a news conference identified the man as 51-year-old Don Spirit. He says the children ranged in age from 3 months to 10 years old. Schultz named the killer as Don C Spirit, 51, a town resident who called 911 at about 4pm making threats against his family and himself. He was alive when the first sheriff’s deputy arrived at the house, Schultz said, but killed himself soon after.
Schultz says a deputy who arrived on a report of a shooting Thursday made contact with Spirit who later committed suicide. The officer “searched the residence which revealed multiple victims with apparent gunshot wounds inside the residence,” the sheriff’s office said. At the press conference on Thursday, Schultz said there was an interaction between Spirit and the deputy, but that it was believed the seven victims were already dead by the time the officer arrived.
A photo on the Gainesville Sun’s website shows several police vehicles on a rural road. A sheriff’s deputy was keeping people away behind police tape. The deputy then searched the building and found the seven victims and Spirit shot to death, he added.
“We’re asking for prayers for this community and the families involved,” Schultz said.
Family members confirmed that the woman killed in the mass shooting was Sarah Spirit, 28, who they said was Don Spirit’s daughter and mother to all six of the children.
Bell shooting: pic.twitter.com/pp0wMLVO0dBell shooting: pic.twitter.com/pp0wMLVO0d
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