An Arizona man is behind bars after police say he shot a woman and two children, the barricaded himself inside an upscale apartment home while engaging in a standoff and  shootout with authorities.

FOX10 reports that the incident occurred at around 3:45 p.m. on Monday afternoon in Phoenix, off of the 1600 block of East Highland Avenue. When authorities arrived to the complex, they found a woman lying dead in the parking lot from gunshot wounds. Sgt. Jonathan Howard said they tried to communicate with the suspect, but he hid inside an apartment home with two children inside.

When officers learned children were inside the apartment, they tried to take measures to save them, in the event they were still alive. They spent hours talking the suspect, pleading with him to release the children. Eventually, officers learned that both children, an 11-year-old an a 10-month-old infant, were deceased. After a 6-hour standoff, they successfully apprehended the suspect alive, after he shot at the responding officers, injuring one of them. The officer is said to be in stable condition and recovering at a local hospital.

One inside the apartment, authorities located the bodies of the two children. Detectives reported that the situation seems to have occurred after a domestic violence incident.

“I’ve never seen anything like this before,” neighbor Kristen Alexander told FOX10. “All of our neighbors seem normal and nice and we’ve never had a problem with anybody here.”

So far, the name of the suspect and names of the victims haven’t been released.

The story is still developing. Check back with CrimeOnline as additional details become available.

[Feature Photo: Pixabay]