California murder-suicide: Six-day-old baby girl among four found dead; here's what we know

A six-day-old baby girl and a two-year-old boy were among four people found dead in a suspected murder-suicide in California.

The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) responded to reports of shots fired inside a home on Londelius Avenue Wednesday evening, according to media reports.

One victim, a man, has been identified as 31-year-old Khajag Basmajian, according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner (LACME). The two children were identified as two-year-old Alec Basmajian and Ella Basmajian, who was just six days old.

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Citing law enforcement sources, KABC reported that evidence collected at the scene indicated that the other victim, a woman who has not yet been identified but is said to be in her 30s, shot the man and two children before turning the gun on herself.

Here’s what we know

Police responded to a call at a North Hills residence around 7:50 p.m. Wednesday and found four people dead from apparent gunshot wounds.

Los Angeles Police Department Captain Mike Bland said, “This is an absolute tragedy, and given the number of deaths, the Special Robbery and Homicide Section is investigating.”

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Bland said there are no suspects at large and detectives believe it was a murder-suicide.

LACME has not confirmed the cause or manner of death. Autopsies were scheduled. A neighbor of the family told KTLA she heard commotion the night the tragedy happened, adding, “We live a few blocks away and we heard all the helicopters last night. We didn’t know what was going on. But to wake up this morning and hear about this and these kids, it’s really heartbreaking.”

Cases of filicide are on the rise in the US

Cases of filicide, the legal term for a parent killing their child, appear to be on the rise in the United States.

Earlier this month, a Texas woman was charged with murder after her two children were found dead in a car that had been set on fire in San Antonio.

The woman, Marlene Vidal, 34, of Edinburgh, Texas, was arrested after the bodies of her children, ages five and seven, were discovered in a vehicle engulfed in flames in a warehouse parking lot, according to police.

Last month, a CNN report, citing Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) data, said that nearly 500 people are arrested annually in the United States for filicide. In April, a Louisiana man and former soldier went on a killing spree across three homes in Shreveport, killing eight children, seven of them his own, in what was believed to be the deadliest mass shooting in two years.

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Shamar Elkins, a 31-year-old father and former soldier, reportedly suffered from mental health issues. According to The New York Times, the woman who raised him but was not his biological mother said he tried to take his own life in February.

In a separate incident in January of this year, a Lakewood man killed his wife and youngest daughter before turning the gun on himself. When officers arrived at the scene, they interviewed a 19-year-old woman who said her father had shot her. She was not injured and was subsequently transported to the Lakewood Sheriff’s Station.

Upon entering the residence, officers discovered 52-year-old Hector Lionel Alfaro with a gunshot wound to the upper body. A short time later, they found his 48-year-old wife in the bedroom with gunshot wounds to the torso. In a separate bedroom, police found Alfaro’s 17-year-old daughter, who also suffered a gunshot wound to the upper torso.