ELK MILLS, Md. — A man, woman and three children were found shot and killed Friday morning at a home in Elk Mills, the Cecil County Sheriff’s Office said.
Deputies responded at 9:20 am to a home in a cul-de-sac on Hebron Court after a man told 911 three children and a woman had been shot and killed.
Officials said the call was “very short” and that the man hung up. Multiple return calls made back to the residence went unanswered. A code yellow was activated for four schools nearby, which is a heightened state of awareness.
Upon arrival, the deputies found a man shot dead in a detached garage with a semi-automatic handgun near him, officials said. Deputies then entered the house, where they found the woman shot on the first floor, and the three children shot upstairs.
All of the victims were pronounced dead on the scene.
The victims remain unidentified as police have been unable to notify the man’s next-of-kin. An official said the children were in 5th, 7th and 8th grades.
The sheriff’s office said they found no call history at the residence. A search and seizure warrant has been executed at the house and an investigation is ongoing.
Police said there is no threat to the community at this time.
Crisis teams were on the scene to assist and support first responders at the scene, including deputies, paramedics and dispatchers.
Cecil County Animal Services was on the scene for a dog and two cats at the scene.
Residents were shocked.
“I just heard that five people were shot and killed that’s all I heard. It’s terrible,” one man told WJZ. He’d driven to the area after seeing news choppers.
People in the small Cecil County community, which is just miles from the Delaware state line, knew something was terribly wrong when their quiet street suddenly got busy.
“I was actually here around 9:30 this morning just seeing all the cops come. As soon as I saw the yellow tape, I knew that means someone’s gone,” one neighbor told WJZ.
The neighbor who lives on the back end of the home where all the victims were found told WJZ the children may have been homeschooled, and he often saw then outside together.
“They’re my neighbors. They used to play around here all the time, they had a dog, too. But I don’t know much more, all I know is just they’re gone,” he said.
Residents are now left shaken as they wait to find out why this happened.
“It’s very shocking around here you know, especially when you have five people,” one resident said. “That’s crazy.”
Additional reporting by Avajoye Burnett.
www.cbsnews.com
George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism