Man Kills 5 of His Children, Shoots Himself, Police Say

A man armed with a shotgun and a rifle killed five of his children Saturday afternoon before fatally shooting himself in the head, authorities reported.

Police said that Kao Xiong apparently opened fire on his children shortly after 4 p.m. inside the family’s apartment on Fairfield Street.

Investigators said that Xiong might have been arguing with his wife sometime before the shooting. She managed to escape injury, along with two other children.

The children who received fatal gunshot wounds were ages 2, 3, 4, 5 and 8. A 9-year-old and an 11-year-old survived.

Officers confiscated a rifle and a 12-gauge shotgun inside the family’s home, police said.

A preliminary investigation indicated that the shooting was a murder-suicide. Detectives said they found Xiong inside the apartment with what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

Investigators had not determined a motive for the slayings. Just before the shooting, they said, Xiong was talking on the telephone to relatives.

Detectives were interviewing the mother and the two surviving children Saturday night. It was not immediately determined if they had been inside the apartment when the shootings occurred.