Police say a father apparently shot to death five of his children, ages 7 to 16, at their mobile home and then killed himself at a recreation building miles away from their house.

Ed Troyer, a spokesman for the Pierce County Sheriff, called it a domestic violence situation and a murder-suicide. Troyer says, “We believe they all died of gunshot wounds.”

Auburn police found the father, dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in his car about 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of Seattle. Deputies checked the mobile home, which is about 20 miles (32 kilometers) southeast of the spot where he was found, and discovered four of the children dead in their beds and the fifth in the bathroom.Troyer said the mother of the victims was not at home.

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