(CNN) — A Florida mother shot her four children early this morning before turning the gun on herself at her home in Port St. John, police said.
A neighbour heard shots at 4:50 a.m. and then responded to a knock at the door to find three of the children. The mother, Tanya Thomas, 33, called them back home, Brevard County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Tod Goodyear told reporters.
Deputies arrived at the house several minutes later to hear more shots fired.
They discovered Thomas’s eldest daughter, Pebbles Johnson, 17, wounded in the front yard. They drove a patrol car onto the lawn in an attempt to rescue her. Johnson was rushed to hospital but died from her wounds, Goodyear said.
The other children — Joel Johnson, 12, Jazlin Johnson, 13, and Jaxs Johnson,15 — were all dead, as was Thomas.
No suicide note was found in the home, but Goodyear said a witness told police he received a text from Thomas at about 3 a.m. that said she wanted to be cremated with the children.
