Virginia Murder-Suicide: Woman Kills 3 Children Then Herself, 4th Child Escapes

Police in Virginia are investigating an apparent murder-suicide incident that left a woman and three young children dead. According to authorities, the incident took place in the early hours of Friday.

Officers were called to a home in the town of Marion where they found the bodies of the victims. The woman, who has not been identified, was said to be 27 years old. The bodies of two children – aged three and 10 – were also found at the scene, the Smyth County Sheriff’s Office said, NBC12 reported.

A six-year-old child was found injured inside the house. The child was flown to Johnson City Medical Center in Tennessee in critical condition but later died, police said.

An eight-year-old child who was also at the scene managed to escape, the police said. Other details about the child remain unclear, ABC-affiliated news outlet WJLA reported.

The police did not reveal how the woman killed the three children. The motive for the killings and the relationship between the victims are being investigated.

The sheriff’s office said there were no other suspects in the incident and their preliminary investigation indicated that the woman killed the children before killing herself, NBC12 reported.

In a recent incident, a couple was found dead in Ohio in an apparent murder-suicide case earlier this month. Officers arrived at the scene and found the man, identified as Brian Colbert, 39, dead in the driveway of the residence with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. When officers entered the residence, they found Colbert's wife suffering from a gunshot wound. The woman was taken to the hospital where she succumbed to her injuries. The police believe the shooting took place following a domestic dispute.

In another incident of a double murder-suicide last month, a woman shot her twin daughters before killing herself in Washington. Officers said the mother, 55-year-old Michele Deegan, had shot her twin seven-year-old daughters while they were asleep. She then turned the gun on herself. According to a preliminary investigation, Deegan had been involved in a custody dispute about the children, “which appears to be the primary motive behind the incident,” authorities said.