Dead In Their Beds

"GRAHAM, WA ― A father apparently shot to death five of his children, ages 7 to 16, at their mobile home and then killed himself near a casino miles away, police said Saturday.

"Ed Troyer, a spokesman for the Pierce County Sheriff, called it a domestic violence situation and a murder-suicide.

"`We believe they all died of gunshot wounds,` Troyer said.

"Police early Saturday found the father slain from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was in his car, parked near the Muckleshoot Casino in Auburn, about 30 miles south of Seattle. Later in the day, Pierce County deputies checked the mobile home, which is about 20 miles southeast of the casino, and found four of the children dead in their beds and the fifth in the bathroom.

"Neighbors in the Deer Run mobile home park, a neat, well-kept community nestled among towering evergreens, were shocked and weeping at the news.

"`How could something like this happen?` asked Mary Riplinger, whose kids were playmates of the slain children. `Everyone's asking: Why did he do it? It's not right.`

"The mother of the victims was not at home, Troyer said."

Source: CBS2.com...