Four children among six dead in Houston shooting

Suspect surrenders after standoff

SPRING, Texas — A suspect in the slayings of six people, including four children, at a suburban Houston home has surrendered after a three-hour standoff with deputies.

The man had led a parade of almost two dozen deputy constables’ patrol cars to a cul-de-sac in a northern Houston suburb shortly before 7 p.m.

After hours of waiting and negotiations, the man emerged from his car, raised his hands and sank to his knees as deputies placed him under arrest. No identity has been released. Authorities say he is suspected of shooting and killing the six at the house in Spring. Only a wounded 15-year-old girl was left to identify the suspect and offer a clue as to where he was headed.

The Harris County Sheriff’s Office said in a written statement that deputy constables were called to the house in the northern Houston suburb of Spring about 6 p.m. Wednesday and found two adults and three children dead. Another child later died at a hospital.

“It appears this stems from a domestic issue with a breakup in the family from what our witness has told us,” assistant chief deputy Const. Mark Herman said.

Authorities did not release the victims’ identities and did not say how they might be related to each other or the suspect.

Deputies were able to intercept, chase and corner the suspect in his vehicle in a cul-de-sac about five kilometres from the shooting scene, authorities said.

Deputies were using armoured vehicles to block the suspect’s car.

Sheriff’s Sgt. Thomas Gilliland described the man as in his 30s with a beard “and cool as a cucumber.” He said that when he and other officers approached, the man was “just sitting in his car looking out at us.”

Danna Stevens, 75, and her husband, Texas Stevens, live four doors down from the home where the shooting happened and weren’t home at the time. Danna Stevens said she did not know her neighbours well but said they had moved into the subdivision a year ago and “done a beautiful job” redecorating their home.

“This is just not something you expect to happen in this kind of subdivision,” she said.

BRET T COOMER /The ASSOCIATED PRESS People talk with a law enforcement officer near the scene of a shooting Wednesday in Spring, Texas. Two adults and three children were discovered dead at the scene, and a fourth child died later in hospital.