5 children, 3 adults found dead inside Texas home: US police

Five children and three adults have been found shot to death at a home in northwest Harris County, Texas, according to a local media.

The incident started late Saturday after authorities responded to a call to perform a check on the residence, said Thomas Gilliland, a spokesman for the Harris County Sheriff’s Office.

Officers had been called to the house at around 9pm last night for a welfare check on the occupants, where they spotted the body of a child through the windows, KHOU-TV reports. Gilliland stated deputies subsequently acquired info indicating that a man inside the house was needed on a warrant for aggravated assault on a member of the family.

KHOU reports that the sergeant on the scene called for a High Risk Operations Unit, similar to SWAT, to help make entry and investigate.

Upon entering the home, eight dead bodies were discovered – three adults and five kids.

The officers pulled back and began negotiating with the man, who eventually surrendered. “Ages and genders we do not have, and cause of death we do not have”.

Police have not provided any information as to how the people died and their relationships were not known yet.

“Homicide detectives have taken over the operation along with our crime scene unit”. Investigators are also still trying to determine how the victims were killed, Houston Chronicle reported.

Neighbors woke up Sunday morning in disbelief about the tragic scene nearby. “I am in horrific shock”.

Cartagena said he heard one gunshot but wasn’t sure if there were more.