A 51-year-old man shot his daughter and six grandchildren to death before turning the gun on himself at a home in the northern Florida town of Bell, authorities said Thursday.
The gunman was identified as Donald C. Spirit, who killed his 8-year-old son in a 2001 hunting accident in Osceola County, officials said.
LIVE updates: North Florida mass murder Read the story
Deputies received the 911 call from Spirit about 4 p.m. and made contact with him when they got on scene. Spirit then committed suicide, the sheriff said. Deputies then found his daughter and grandchildren dead inside the home, said Gilchrist County Sheriff Robert Schultz III.
The victims were identified as Kaleb Kuhlmann, 11; Kylie Kuhlmann, 9; Johnathon Kuhlmann, 8; Brandon Stewart, 4; Destiny Stewart, 5; 2-month-old Alanna Stewart, and their mother Sarah Spirit, 28.
"This is a small county. We're all family here. ... There are certain things in life you can explain, and there are some things you can't," Schultz said. "We will continue to be family, and we will work through this."
Bell is a small town of several hundred people about 35 miles west of Gainesville.
"We are asking for prayers for this community and the families involved," said Schultz.
No motive was given for the shooting. Deputies said they would release more information at a later time.
Schultz said Spirit had a criminal record, and deputies have been called out to the home in Bell before, but did not provide details.
Spirit, a New Jersey native, spent three years in prison on a gun charge starting in 2003 stemming from the Osceola shooting, according to the Florida Department of Corrections.
Don Spirit (Florida Department of Corrections)
Spirit accidentally shot and killed his son Kyle in a hunting accident outside Kenansville on Nov. 14, 2001. Spirit was pointing out rust on the muzzle of his rifle when it fired, striking 8-year-old Kyle in the head.
He put Kyle in the flatbed of his truck and drove to a campsite, an area near U.S. Highway 441, where he got help.
Spirit was a felon from a previous drug conviction at the time of the shooting.
Before the trial for the shooting, he told the Orlando Sentinel in an interview that he was having trouble coping with his son's death. He was taken to a mental-heath facility for treatment and was on medication, he said.
"The medication, I've tried it. It ain't working," Spirit said in a 2003 interview. "The one medicine I have is my family."
Spirit pleaded guilty to a charge of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon just as his trial was set to begin, in exchange for the minimum sentence. He could have faced a prison term of three to 15 years if convicted by a jury.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news...l-murder-suicide-children-20140918-story.html
911 audio:
Link: www.liveleak.com/view?i=b2d_1411491136
The gunman was identified as Donald C. Spirit, who killed his 8-year-old son in a 2001 hunting accident in Osceola County, officials said.
LIVE updates: North Florida mass murder Read the story
Deputies received the 911 call from Spirit about 4 p.m. and made contact with him when they got on scene. Spirit then committed suicide, the sheriff said. Deputies then found his daughter and grandchildren dead inside the home, said Gilchrist County Sheriff Robert Schultz III.
The victims were identified as Kaleb Kuhlmann, 11; Kylie Kuhlmann, 9; Johnathon Kuhlmann, 8; Brandon Stewart, 4; Destiny Stewart, 5; 2-month-old Alanna Stewart, and their mother Sarah Spirit, 28.
"This is a small county. We're all family here. ... There are certain things in life you can explain, and there are some things you can't," Schultz said. "We will continue to be family, and we will work through this."
Bell is a small town of several hundred people about 35 miles west of Gainesville.
"We are asking for prayers for this community and the families involved," said Schultz.
No motive was given for the shooting. Deputies said they would release more information at a later time.
Schultz said Spirit had a criminal record, and deputies have been called out to the home in Bell before, but did not provide details.
Spirit, a New Jersey native, spent three years in prison on a gun charge starting in 2003 stemming from the Osceola shooting, according to the Florida Department of Corrections.
Don Spirit (Florida Department of Corrections)
Spirit accidentally shot and killed his son Kyle in a hunting accident outside Kenansville on Nov. 14, 2001. Spirit was pointing out rust on the muzzle of his rifle when it fired, striking 8-year-old Kyle in the head.
He put Kyle in the flatbed of his truck and drove to a campsite, an area near U.S. Highway 441, where he got help.
Spirit was a felon from a previous drug conviction at the time of the shooting.
Before the trial for the shooting, he told the Orlando Sentinel in an interview that he was having trouble coping with his son's death. He was taken to a mental-heath facility for treatment and was on medication, he said.
"The medication, I've tried it. It ain't working," Spirit said in a 2003 interview. "The one medicine I have is my family."
Spirit pleaded guilty to a charge of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon just as his trial was set to begin, in exchange for the minimum sentence. He could have faced a prison term of three to 15 years if convicted by a jury.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news...l-murder-suicide-children-20140918-story.html
911 audio:
Embedded media from this media site is no longer available
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cock the trigger then pull it 
RIP to this innocent family that did not dserve to die by the hands of someone who is suppose to love you 
