Four dead in US' Houston domestic violence shooting

HOUSTON: Four people were killed at a Houston home on Wednesday in what authorities said was likely a domestic violence shooting that included a man firing at police before turning a gun on himself.

Officers went to a home in the city's northeast around 3:15 am after receiving a call saying a woman had been shot, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said at a news conference.

The officers were met with gunfire and a SWAT team from the sheriff's office was then dispatched to the home.

Gonzalez said the SWAT team was eventually able to negotiate with the man to enter the home, but as team members were going inside they heard "a final gunshot."

In the house, the officers found two dead women and two dead men, including a 49-year-old man who shot himself, he said.

Gonzalez said he believes the 49-year-old was the boyfriend of one of the women and that the other woman and man were her adult children.

He also said one of the women who was ultimately shot is likely the person who called police.

He did not identify any of them by name or give the ages of the other three.

The sheriff said the boyfriend appears to have been “the aggressor,” but he emphasised that investigators are not yet certain of how the shootings played out.

He said multiple guns were found in the home and the 49-year-old told police he was injured before he shot himself.

Gonzalez said investigators believe everyone but that man had been shot before officers arrived.

He said officers did not fire any shots and that no officers were wounded.

Sheriff's deputies have not been called to the house before, according to Gonzalez.