The Texas gunman who killed six people before committing suicide wore a Santa Claus costume during his horrific Christmas Day rampage. The massacre in Grapevine, just outside Dallas, occurred just after the victims had finished opening their gifts. Click below to read the rest of the story.
The shooter was part of a family Christmas gathering and “showed up shortly before the incident took place” in the Santa suit, Grapevine police spokesman Sgt. Robert Eberling said Monday, according to The Associated Press.
The bodies of four women, two men and a teenage boy were found dead in an apartment. They ranged in age from 15 to 58, according to the Dallas Morning News.
Police records indicate the victims included the residents of the apartment — a 55-year-old woman and her two teenagers, a 15-year-old boy and 19-year-old girl.
Their identities have not yet been released.
Neighbors said the woman had recently separated from her husband, according to the Dallas Morning News, and that the couple had been struggling financially.
Their former home, just a few blocks from the scene of the shooting, had been foreclosed on, though the father reportedly continued to live there after his wife and the teens moved to the apartment.
Police searched the home Sunday evening and continued to conduct their investigation into the night, searching nearby vehicles and interviewing relatives of the victims.
The unprecedented violence stunned the town.
“This is such a close-knit area and community,†neighbor Vanessa Barrera, 35, told the Morning News. “It’s very shocking.â€
