5-year-old twins and their parents dead in suspected East L.A. murder-suicide

The two children killed in a suspected East Los Angeles murder-suicide were 5-year-old twins, a boy and a girl, authorities said.

Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies responded about 9 p.m. Saturday to a report of shots fired in the 1100 block of South Hicks Avenue. When they arrived, they were given a description of the shooter’s vehicle and pulled over a 32-year-old man driving near the corner of Hicks and Olympic Boulevard, Det. Eddie Brown told KTLA News. Before they could question him, the man shot himself.

[Updated at 12:25 p.m.: The suspected shooter was Salvador “Chava” Acevedo, according to a man who identified himself as his nephew.]

Inside the vehicle was the body of a 32-year-old woman, who was pronounced dead at the scene, and the children, the sheriff’s department said. The twins were transported to a local hospital, where they later died. All the victims appeared to have been shot inside the vehicle.

The adults were later determined to be the children’s parents, but the relationship between the mother and father was not clear, the sheriff’s department said. Brown said the couple had been heard arguing earlier in the day.

The victims’ names were not released, pending notification of next of kin.