Sheriff: Ohio mom killed 2 kids _ 6-year-old girl and 18-month-old boy _ before killing self

Sheriff: Ohio mom killed 2 kids, then herself

CARROLLTON, Ohio — A woman shot and killed her two children in their beds before committing suicide Wednesday morning in their rural home, authorities said.

Carroll County Sheriff Dale Williams said the woman’s father notified police at around 7:30 a.m. Wednesday. The man was in the house at the time but didn’t witness the shootings, the sheriff said.

The shooting, which took place in a rural town about 20 miles southeast of Canton, left the 24-year-old woman and her two children — a 6-year-old girl and an 18-month-old boy — dead.

Investigators were checking a note found at the home, but no immediate motive was offered, Williams said. The bodies were taken for autopsies at the Stark County coroner’s office, he said.

The children had different fathers, both of whom apparently lived outside the area, Williams said. Detailed information on the victims’ identities was being withheld until the men and other family members are notified, he said.

Carrollton school Superintendent Palmer Fogler said the 6-year-old was a first-grader in the district.

Several people hugged and consoled one another in the driveway of the house, situated at the edge of a grassy hill and cordoned off by a paddock-style white fence.

Carrollton, seat of Carroll County in northeast Ohio, has a population of about 3,000.