SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) ― Sheriff's officials say a deputy arrived at an Orange County home moments before gunshots were fired in an apparent murder-suicide that left four dead.
Sheriff's spokesman Jim Amormino said Thursday that 67-year-old Bonnie Hoult was outside with her 4-year-old granddaughter on Monday when she saw the deputy and walked briskly in the house. Amormino says within seconds, the deputy heard gunshots.
Authorities found the bodies of Hoult, 4-year-old Catherine Fontaine, her 2-year-old sister Julia and their 38-year-old mother Elizabeth Fontaine inside the San Clemente home. They were each shot once.
Investigators have not determined who fired the shots. Earlier on Monday a judge had tentatively ordered the children's paternal aunt to take custody of the children.
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