57°
Police confirmed that parents Marcus Edward Milligan, 39, and Tara Devina Ricker Milligan, 37, were both killed in a Hebron Court home in Elk Mills, along with children Teresa Milligan, 14, Nora Milligan, 11, and Finn Milligan, 8.
All five died from gunshot wounds, according to officials.
Deputies from the sheriff's office were alerted to the shooting near Elk Mills Road shortly after 9:15 a.m. by a man who said that the children and a woman were fatally shot.
Officials said the call was brief, and when the sheriff’s office called back after being hung up on, there was no answer.
Upon arrival, deputies located Marcus Milligan unresponsive in a detached garage with a semiautomatic weapon near his body, and Tara Milligan and their children were found scattered inside the home, all with gunshot wounds.
Several pets from the family's home were also recovered by investigators and turned over to the Cecil County Animal Services.
Cecil County Sheriff Scott Adams said during a Friday afternoon news briefing that “any time you have a loss to these levels - any loss is terrible, but a loss of this level, which is not a common thing, it's certainly not a common thing here in Cecil County - it's tragic and terrible and takes a long time for people to process."
The investigation into the fatal shootings is ongoing.
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