The Latest: Man in custody in Texas after 8 found dead
HOUSTON (AP) — The latest in the Texas that left eight people dead — including five children and three adults — inside a Houston-area home (all times local):
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10 a.m.
The area around a Houston-area home where authorities say five children and three adults have been found dead is still cordoned off, with sheriff's deputies coming in and out of the house and the medical examiner's office having arrived at the scene.
The Harris County Sheriff's Office says a 49-year-old man is in custody after surrendering to authorities. The eight people were found dead in the home after a welfare check.
Neighbor Dalila Mercado says when she arrived home last night officers had already blocked off the area. She said she was sitting in her driveway when she heard gunshots coming from the house and officials then told her and her family to go inside their home.
Mercado said she could still see from her bedroom window and watched as a man was escorted out of the house after midnight. She said officials then had him next to her fence, taking fingerprints and photographs.
She says, "It was shocking. I haven't slept all night."
Mercado says she didn't know the residents of the house well, but would occasionally say hello to a woman and see children waiting to catch the school bus.
She said she didn't recognize the man taken out of the house.
The relationship between the man and the victims wasn't immediately known.
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9:25 a.m.
Texas authorities say five children and three adults have been found dead inside a Houston-area home and a 49-year-old man who exchanged gunfire with police is in custody.
The Harris County Sheriff's Office said in a statement Sunday morning that the eight people were found dead after a welfare check was conducted at the home. The man was taken into custody after members of the Harris County Sheriff's Office High Risk Operations Unit and Hostage Negotiation Team negotiated his surrender.
Harris County Sheriff spokesman Thomas Gilliland tells KHOU-TV (http://bit.ly/1HyVKtb ) that deputies were called to the home about 9 p.m. Saturday. He says deputies subsequently received information indicating that a man inside the home was wanted on an aggravated assault warrant.
Gilliland says while waiting for a High Risk Operations Unit, deputies spotted the body of a juvenile through a window. Four deputies forced themselves inside, prompting the suspect to begin shooting. Deputies pulled back, and the man surrendered about an hour later.
Officials say more information will be given at a news conference set for 3 p.m.
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