What to Know
- A woman shot her 10-month-old and 4-year-old daughters, a 38-year-old man and herself inside a Tacony home Monday, Philadelphia police say.
- The two children and the man died in the triple murder. The woman was in critical condition Tuesday morning following her suicide attempt.
- The alleged shooter's sister identified the adult shooting victim as Max Alcindor and the children as Damaya, 10 months, and Maxilla, 4.
Update: The woman has been officially charged with three counts of murder. New details here.
A woman shot and killed her two young daughters and a man, who family members call her husband, before shooting herself inside their Northeast Philadelphia home Monday night, police said.
Police said the 28-year-old woman shot a 38-year-old man as well as her 4-year-old and 10-month-old daughters inside the home on the 6300 block of Hegerman Street in the Tacony neighborhood Monday night.
"Everyone who was in the house was either killed or shot," acting Philadelphia Police Commissioner Christine Coulter said.
The man is the father of at least one of the girls, Coulter said as she spoke about the "heartbreaking" scene the morning after the shooting.
The man, identified by the alleged shooter's sister as Max Alcindor, died at the scene while the children, identified by the same family member as 10-month-old Damaya and 4-year-old Maxilla, later died at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children.
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The woman, who was found outside the home lying on top of a gun, remained in critical condition Tuesday morning while undergoing tests at the hospital, police said.
All the evidence supports that it was a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Coulter said. The woman, who neighbors say worked as a school bus driver, is being held as a prisoner while receiving treatment, police said.
Her sister, who asked not to be named, told NBC10's Steven Fisher that the woman was married to Alcindor and that he recently left her.
Police responded to the home around 9:50 p.m. after a neighbor called 911 to report the sound of gunfire coming from the home. Police found what Coulter called a "horrific" scene.
"Officers were actually crying at the scene," Coulter said.
Officers who responded to the scene were in contact with internal police assistance programming, Coulter said.
Coulter said that police had not previously been called to the home.
Toys and a pink bike could be seen in front of the home. The thought of the little children never playing with those toys again nearly brought neighbor Mary Munizza, whose grandchildren played with the older girl, to tears.
"She was a very happy little girl, always skipping, playing and smiling," Munizza said of Maxilla. "... Just a very beautiful little girl."
This story is developing. Check back for updates.
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE HELP: The National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233 or 800-787-3224 (TTY) provides people in distress, or those around them, with 24-hour support.
SUICIDE PREVENTION HELP: If you are in crisis, you can call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255 or reach out to the Crisis Text Line by texting 'Home' to 741741.
