'Tragic Beyond Words': Texas Mom Allegedly Murders Her Children After Losing Custody, Then Kills Herself

A Texas mom allegedly killed her two young children in a murder-suicide after losing custody of them in a crime police described as "tragic beyond words."

The woman shot her two kids, a 3-year-old boy and a 5-year-old girl, and her 68-year-old mother Monday morning in an apartment, San Antonio Police Chief William McManus told reporters, according to local outlet KSAT. Police have yet to identify anyone involved.

“According to the father, she had lost custody of the children very, very, very recently and this was the terrible end results of that,” McManus said in a press conference near the scene. “Tragic beyond words. Two little children, a grandmother and a mother.”

The father of the children had been trying to get in touch with the mother to no avail, McManus told reporters. When the father arrived at the apartment "he peered in through a crack in the blinds and saw the bodies," McManus said.

McManus indicated the woman did not have a prior history of violence. 

Authorities are looking into how long the bodies had been in the apartment and what exactly led to the shootings. Police are speaking with neighbors as part of the investigation, McManus said.

When a reporter asked if there was any link to stress caused by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, McManus immediately dismissed the link, and said authorities have seen similar murder-suicides in households where a custody battle had recently taken place.

Regardless of officials' opinions in this case, the ongoing worldwide lockdowns in response to the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a surge in reports of domestic violence, according to data compiled by The New York Times.