A five a.m. emergency phone call has led investigators to a home in Georgia where four children and a person believed to be their father have been found dead.
One child, reportedly a young girl, was reportedly found alive with injuries, but her condition is unknown.
The mother of the children has been questioned regarding the stabbing, officials have said.
“This is a horrendous crime not only for the victims but for the extended family, neighbourhood, and community,” police said. “We are hoping and praying that the remaining victim survives his/her injuries and makes a full recovery.”
No charges have been filed relating to the murder, however police have referred to the mother as a “suspect” in the deaths of the five victims.
“She was quickly taken into custody and right now she's at Gwinnett County Police Headquarters being interviewed,” Gwinnett County Police Corporal Michele Pihera told reporters.
“Right now we believe we have everybody involved in this crime,” she continued, noting that she doesn’t want the community to believe that the killer is at large.
The condition of the mother was not disclosed.
Each of the children killed in the Georgia home were under the age of 10, police have confirmed. The father is said to have been in his mid-30s.
The stabbings occurred in the area around the town of Loganville, which is outside of Atlanta.
The motive for the attack wasn’t immediately known, or expressed by police investigating the case.
Police said that they believe the children, the father, and the mother all lived together in the same home, which is a single-story building with white paneling and black shutters. Following the murders, neighbours reportedly sat in their front yards as police investigated the nearby crime scene that they had taped off with yellow police tape.
