ONTARIO, Calif. (AP) — Two children and a woman identified as a San Bernardino County probation officer were found dead inside a home Saturday after police opened fire on the armed woman and she barricaded herself inside, authorities told KABC-TV.
The incident occurred after officers responded to a 911 call at 2:30 a.m. and arrived at the home to find the suspect's husband shot and critically wounded, authorities said.
The man was standing behind a screen door when two officers approached, said Ontario Police Department Sgt. Bill Russell, and "as he was stepping out of the way an officer-involved shooting occurred in which the officers engaged in gunfire with a female inside the house."
The woman barricaded herself inside the home, police said. The wounded man was rushed to a hospital with life-threatening injuries.
An hourslong standoff ensued, during which authorities attempted to make contact with the woman.
A SWAT team then entered the house and discovered the suspect and the children dead. The children's deaths were "believed to be as a result of an act that occurred prior to our arrival," Russell said.
Whether the woman was killed by police gunfire or a self-inflicted gunshot was under investigation, he said.
The husband who was shot "is unable to communicate right now," Russell said, "so we haven't gotten a lot of answers as far as what led to the call to us in the first place."
