Police suspect the deaths of five members of one family -- including children ages 10, 8 and 4 -- found in their north Texas home are the result of a murder-suicide.
Navarro County Sheriff Elmer Tanner told a Monday morning news conference that the bodies of Israel Alvarez, his wife, Guadalupe Ronquillo-Ovalle, and their three sons were discovered Sunday evening by Alvarez's father at the family's home in Rice, Texas, about 45 miles southeast of Dallas.
Each of the five victims sustained gunshot wounds to their upper torso, the sheriff said. A .22 caliber semi-automatic long rifle was recovered at the scene.
Tanner declined to provide a time or cause of death. He said the last outside contact with any of the victims was Thursday. The children were not in school Friday.
The sheriff declined to identify the suspected shooter.
He said that Alvarez was arrested Sept. 11 on a family violence charge after sheriff's deputies responded to a 911 call from the residence.
Tanner said the complainant in that incident was one of the victims and the case was considered a simple assault -- Alvarez allegedly shoved his wife, the sheriff said. No injuries were sustained.
Alvarez was held for two days on the Class C charge, paid a fine and was released, the sheriff said.