Florida: Mother committed suicide after killing her four children

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Florida: Mother committed suicide after killing her four children

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Authorities say a mother shot and killed her four children before taking her own life in Florida.

16 May,2012 06:15 am

A mother shot and killed her four children before turning a gun on herself in a small town in Florida on Tuesday, authorities said.The shooting happened at a house in Port St. John, in Brevard County, about 15 miles (approximately 24 km) from NASAs Kennedy Space Center.A spokesman for the Brevard County Sheriffs office identified the victims as four children aged 12, 13, 15 and 17. They were shot by their 33-year-old mother, Tonya Thomas, who then turned the gun on herself, Tod Goodyear said. All were shot with what appeared to be a handgun, he said.Goodyear said a neighbor called police before dawn on Tuesday to report gunfire. When police arrived they found a fatally injured 17-year-old girl in the front yard of the house, which is in a quiet neighborhood of single family residences.