Two children among four dead in apparent ‘murder-suicide’ in Ohio, police say

Two of the victims were elementary school students

Aerial view of Veterans Park in Avon Lake, Ohio at sunset. (Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons user Jason Damman (Creative Commons Attribution 3.0))

Cleveland-area police are investigating a “suspected murder-suicide” that killed four people, including two children.

The bodies were discovered on Tuesday afternoon after officers were dispatched to the city of Avon Lake, just west of Cleveland, for a welfare check.

“The officers observed a suspicious condition inside the house, and requested detectives to respond,” the Avon Lake Police Department said in a statement. “Officers and detectives made entry to the residence and located four deceased individuals with gunshot wounds, two adults and two children.”

The names of the deceased haven’t been released, but school officials confirmed that the children were students at Erieview Elementary School.

"This afternoon, we learned the tragic news that we lost one of our Avon Lake families, including two students at Erieview Elementary School,” the school wrote in a news release. “It is important that we recognize this loss and offer help...This is a sensitive issue for children, and we suggest that you talk with your children about their feelings.”

The Avon Lake Detective Bureau and Ohio state police are investigating the scene.

The Independent has reached out to these agencies for more information.

Avon Lake is a small, upper middle-class city of about 24,000 people just west of Cleveland on the shores of Lake Erie.