The bodies of six people - 4 adults and 2 children - were found by police in a small brick house in Memphis, Tennessee. Inside the small building were found three other children in a critical condition.
Investigators suspect this may be a mass killing. If it’s proved to be so, it would be the worst mass murder in Memphis in the past 15 years.
However, investigators did not say whether it actually was a mass killing or not, nor did they release information about an eventual killer at large.
The three children found in life threatening conditions - aged 7,4 and 10 months – were taken as soon as possible to Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center, Memphis Fire Department spokeswoman Melanie Young told The Associated Press.
Their conditions have slightly changed in the mean time. The hospital officials said one of them is now in stable condition, another one was upgraded to critical while the third remained in life threatening condition, a CA newspaper reported.
Young did not give details about the other children who were killed, but the dead children were under 12 according to The Commercial Appeal newspaper which quoted police.
"We just don't know the motive or cause of death, but we do have four adults and two children (dead)," Memphis police Lt. Jerry Guin told the newspaper.
The victims were gunned down and at least one of them was stabbed, Young said. However, all the victims had gunshot wounds.
A relative of one of the victims reportedly knocked on the door at about 6 a.m. and after no one had answered, she called the police who entered the small home and found it full of corpses.
The shootings happened Sunday night, said inspector Joe Scott of the Memphis Police Department. His statement was confirmed by local witnesses who heard the shots.
According to the owner of the house, who said he rented it to Cecil Dotson, who is 32, and his girlfriend for $550 a month, three children were living with the couple in the house.
“He was always very polite and helpful when I interacted with him,” the owner said.
