Houston: Six members of a family, including four children were killed by a lone gunman following a domestic dispute here on Thursday as police pieced together details of the latest horrific shooting rampage in the United States.
Ron Lee Haskell, 33, the capital-murder suspect in the shooting deaths of six members of a family at their Spring home apparently posed as a delivery man to gain entry to the house, police said.
He was wearing a FedEx pullover shirt when he arrived at the home said Harris County Precinct 4 Constable Ron Hickman.
Hickman did not know what Haskell said to the people who greeted him at the door, but he may have worn the shirt to appear to be a FedEx worker, Houston Chronicle reported.
The shooting appears to have been sparked by a domestic dispute involving a divorce, Hickman said. Haskell`s wife is related to one of the victims. The woman briefly lived at the home several months ago, according to a family friend.
Haskell gathered up the children, who were there alone, and waited for their parents to get home, Hickman said. When they arrived, he put the family in one room and started shooting, the report said.
"Killed were two boys, ages 4 and 14; two girls, ages 7 and 9; a 39-year-old man; and a 33-year-old woman," said Deputy Thomas Gilliland of the Harris County Sheriff`s Office.
Their names have not been released. Spring is about 32 km north of Houston.
Hickman said a 15-year-old daughter survived the rampage and called 911.
He said she told authorities the gunman might be headed to the nearby home of a couple believed to be his ex-wife`s parents.
Police stopped him before he arrived at the home and a three-hour standoff began. He later surrendered to police and was taken into custody.
A pistol was found in his car. No other weapons were discovered in the home. He has been charged with capital murder.
"This is a horrific tragedy to have so many victims in one family," Hickman said.
The shooting incident was the latest in a spate of similar incidents in America plagued by gun violence.
President Barack Obama has warned that America must to do some "soul-searching" on gun control to tackle growing shooting incidents.
In May, a mentally-challenged student killed six people and then himself in California. Last month, a gunman killed one person and injured two others on a campus in Seattle.
