Dad kills wife, five kids in California

A father who had recently been sacked has committed suicide after he shot dead his wife and five young children in California. According to a Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) spokeswoman, the father killed his eight-year-old daughter, five-year-old twin daughters and two-year-old twin sons, shot and killed his wife, then himself in the suburb of Wilmington south of Los Angeles on Tuesday. "Right now we're investigating as if the father killed his wife and five kids and then turned the revolver on himself and killed himself," LAPD Deputy Chief Ken Garner told KFWB radio. The murderer faxed a local TV station and also called 911 before killing his family. "He was despondent over his job situation," explained Chief Garner. "He was going through some critical situation at the job ... and that's what prompted him to take his own life and his family, from what was said in the fax letter." "It was a grisly scene," Garner continued. "I've been on the police department for 32 years and I've never seen anything like this ... it's horrific. It's a tragedy," he said.