Cecil County Sheriff Scott Adams said a man, woman and three children — in grades 5, 7 and 8 — were found Friday morning inside a large two-story home in Elk Mills.  Authorities did not immediately release the identities of the victims, but said there is no ongoing threat to the public.
The shooting occurred on a cul-de-sac in an area of ​​residential roads interspersed with wooded areas about 60 miles (97 kilometers) northeast of Baltimore and a few miles west of the Delaware state line.
“It’s a horrible day and I know everyone’s prayers are appreciated.  … My phone hasn’t stopped ringing from people who are concerned about it and upset about it,” Adams said.
“Grief is what it is at this point,” Adams said.  “Whenever you have a loss at these levels.  Any loss is terrible, but a loss of this level, which is not a common thing – certainly not a common thing here in Cecil County – is tragic and terrible and it takes a long time for people to process it.”
Deputies were called to the home shortly after 9 a.m. by a man who said three children and a woman had been shot and killed, Holmes said.  Deputies entered the home and also found a man dead.  A semi-automatic weapon was found near the deceased.
The sheriff declined to say what the motive might have been.  He said his office does not have records of deputies responding to house calls.
The bodies were found in different parts of the house.  Video from the scene shows the house with cream siding and red shutters and a detached garage surrounded by police tape.  Several police vehicles were found at the scene.
A neighbor, Tom Driscoll, who can see the residence where the shooting happened from his home, said a couple with three children had lived there for at least five years.  He said the parents kept to themselves, but the children once brought cookies at Christmas and sometimes brought his dogs back to him if they wandered off.
He said the children were homeschooled, a detail the sheriff had earlier confirmed.  Driscoll said he would see the two girls and one boy playing on a swing in their backyard or on a trampoline.
“I don’t know why anyone would want to hurt these kids.  I really don’t, Driscoll said.  “Things must have been pretty bad somehow.”