Fla. Mother Kills Children, Self During Standoff

Brevard County (Fla.) Sheriff's tactical deputies entered a Port St. John home Tuesday morning to find a mother and three children dead in a murder-suicide. A fourth child had been fatally shot earlier in the day.

The incident began at 4:50 a.m., when neighbors called 911 to report shots fired. Tonya Thomas, 33, had shot at least one of her children, and neighbors heard her call them back into the home, reports the News-Press .

Deputies arrived to find one of the children on the lawn in front of the home and rescued her but she was pronounced dead. Deputies entered the home to find the children fatally shot and Thomas dead by a self-inflicted wound.