A St. Louis-area man fatally shot his estranged wife and two of her children before fleeing with their baby, who was later found safe, and the man shot himself hours later Friday as officers closed in on him, authorities said.
The killings happened late Thursday in north St. Louis County, said St. Louis County police spokeswoman Tracy Panus. Officers responding to a report of a shooting found a 34-year-old woman, her 13-year-old son and her 6-year-old daughter shot. All three were pronounced dead at the scene. Their names have not been released.
Police also learned that a 1-year-old girl had been taken — the daughter of the woman and the suspected shooter, 35-year-old Bobby McCulley III. The two children killed were not McCulley's biological children, police said.
Court records show McCulley filed for divorce on Feb. 28.
An Amber Alert was issued, and the baby was found safe with relatives just before 5 a.m. Friday.
Meanwhile, police launched a manhunt for the gunman. St. Louis city police said a man believed to be “a suspect relative to a St. Louis County homicide investigation” shot himself as officers tried to take him into custody. Police would not say if the man survived the shooting.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol tweeted that the 1-year-old was taken to a hospital to be checked by doctors as a precaution.
