Seven dead after shooting

GRAPEVINE, Texas (AP):

Six members of a Texas family apparently opened Christmas presents just before a relative dressed as Santa Claus showed up, opened fire and killed them before killing himself, police said yesterday.

Grapevine police spokesman Sergeant Robert Eberling said the shooter showed up in the Santa outfit shortly before gunfire erupted and was a member of the family.

Police went to the apartment midday Sunday after receiving a 911 call in which no one was on the other line. They found four women and three men, aged 18 to 60, dead. A motive for the shootings remains unclear.

Investigators worked overnight, meticulously searching the apartment, along with three vehicles parked outside.

"It appears they had just celebrated Christmas. They had opened their gifts," Grapevine Police Sergeant Eberling said Sunday, adding that the apartment was decorated for the holiday, including a tree.

Two handguns were found near the bodies, and it appears all died of gunshot wounds, he said.

searching for relatives

Grapevine Police Lieutenant Dearing said investigators believe that the victims were related, though some were visiting and didn't live in the apartment. He said police are looking for other relatives to inform of the deaths.

"Seven people in one setting in Grapevine, that's never happened before. Ever," Dearing said.

Police and firefighters first rushed to the Lincoln Vineyards complex after receiving the open-ended 911 call at about 11:30 a.m., Eberling said.

"There was an open line. No one was saying anything," he explained.

So police went into the apartment, located in the middle-class neighbourhood of Grapevine, not far from the upscale Fort Worth suburb of Colleyville. The apartment was at the back of the complex, overlooking the athletic fields of Colleyville Heritage High School.

Many of the nearby apartments are vacant, and police said no neighbours reported hearing anything on a quiet Christmas morning when many people were not around.

"This has shocked everybody. It has scared everybody. I guess something like this can happen anywhere, but seven people dead? It's just very scary," he added.

Eberling agreed the area is fairly quiet, saying the shootings involved the first homicides in Grapevine since 2010.

Christy Posch, a flight attendant who moved to the complex about six months ago so her son could attend the high school, said she lives a few buildings away and did not hear any gunshots.