Deputies are investigating a a deadly shooting in the far northeast corner of Maryland Friday morning that left five people, including three children, dead.

Cecil County Sheriff Scott Adams said a 911 call came in at about 9:19 a.m. from a man who said that three children and a woman had been fatally shot.

“The 911 call was short,” Chief Deputy Gerald Widdoes said, according to the Cecil Whig. “He hung up. We called back several times and there was no answer.”

Deputies arrived at the home about 10 minutes after the call and found a man dead inside a detached garage and a semi-automatic handgun near his body. Inside the home, they found the bodies of the woman and children, who were homeschooled and in the 5th, 7th, and 8th grades, according to Adams.

The sheriff said that authorities were have some difficulty notifying the man’s next of kin, so the names of all the victims were being withheld for the time being.

“We are not calling it a murder-suicide yet,” Adams said, adding that the sheriff’s office had no record of calls to the address.

Deputies have secured a search warrant for the residence and are looking for further clues to the tragic shooting.

There were a dog and two cats in the home as well, apparently uninjured, and they were taken by Cecil County Animal Services.

According to WBAL, four area schools were temporarily put on a code yellow — a heightened state of awareness.

For the latest true crime and justice news, subscribe to the ‘Crime Stories with Nancy Grace’ podcast.

[Featured image: WBAL screenshot]