Santa Clara police have released more details about Sunday night's apparent murder-suicide that left six people dead, including three children.
"It's horrific. There's no other way to describe it."
That's the reaction Santa Clara Police Department Lt. Phil Cooke had when he talked about the details of a shooting.
Officers released the names of five of the victims. Among the dead were Akhil Dev, 11, son of Devan Kalathat, the believed killer, Negha Dev, daughter of Kalathat, Ashok Appu Poothemkandi, 35, brother-in-law of Kalathat, Suchitra Sivaraman, 25, wife of Poothemkandi and Ahana Ashok, 11 months, daughter of Poothemkandi and Sivaraman.
The lone survivor of the shooting is currently in critical condition at a hospital. She had recently arrived from India, police said. Police have not released her name.
Authorities were still searching Tuesday for a motive, though they have said financial issues did not appear to be a factor.
The Times of India newspaper spoke to the father of one of the victims.
"My son-in-law Devarajan had a quarrel with my son Ashokan and shot everyone in the family including my son, daughter-in-law Suchitra, their child Neha, my daughter Aabha and their children Akhil and Ahaana yesterday (Monday) night in the US during dinner," Tamil Nadu told the paper.
They also published video with photos of the victims.
Other news reports in India, where family members are from, indicate the killings happened after an argument between the alleged shooter and his brother-in-law during dinner.
The victims were found dead in the Santa Clara Rivermark home Sunday night. Neighbors called 911 at about 8:30 p.m. to report an injured women who had stumbled outside on to the sidewalk.
A neighbor said her husband tried to help the woman and covered her with a blanket until help arrived. She said the woman tried to talk but they could not understand what she was saying.
Scattered inside the three-story town house, officers found the bodies of the suspected gunman's 11-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter and a 35-year-old man and his 25-year-old wife, both visiting from India.
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An 11-month-old girl -- the child of the couple who had recently come from India -- was alive when paramedics arrived, but died overnight at a local hospital, according to police.
The suspected gunman was found on the top floor, dead from a self-inflicted wound, according to Santa Clara Police Capt. Mike Sellers. Two handguns were found at the scene.
Police said they found a passport from India inside the home. Neighbors say the family moved into the townhouse within the past week.
Cops are calling it the worst crime in the city's history.
When they arrived, police stumbled on a grisly scene at the home on Headen Way at Kelley Way at the north end of Rivermark.
Two of the children who died attended a private school in Sunnyvale, school officials confirmed today.
Santa Clara police have not released the victims' names, but a 4-year-old girl who was among those killed was enrolled in preschool at the Challenger School in Sunnyvale, Challenger CEO Barbara Baker said.
Baker said another victim, a 10-year-old boy, was in the fifth grade.
Regional executives from the Utah-based Challenger School network are at the organization's Sunnyvale campus today, preparing to help students cope with the two students' deaths, Baker said.
The Sunnyvale campus serves 650 preschool through eighth-grade students.
"Challenger expresses our deepest compassion and empathy to the family of friends of these students in this most sorrowful event," Baker said today from the school's main offices in Utah.
She expressed particular sorrow for the boy's classmates, who she said are at an age in which strong friendships start developing at school.
Residents described Rivermark, a 7-year-old planned community with a shopping center, playgrounds and a mix of town houses, condominiums and Spanish-style houses that go for $1 million, as relatively quiet. Located near several high-tech companies, it draws a mix of retirees and young professionals.
"It's the sleepiest little area. Nothing ever happens here," said Jackie Stewart, who walked with her husband over to the crime scene.
Along with another mother, Sameena Usman placed two bouquets of flowers and a stuffed dog inside the yellow police tape cordoning off the street.
"It's a sad situation. We're pretty tight-knit around here," Usman said while pushing her toddler son in a stroller. "Their children could've played with my kids."
Booke said its the fourth murder-suicide involving children in Santa Clara over the past 10 years.
