A former South Carolina soldier shot and killed an active duty soldier, his two children, and a stepchild Tuesday before killing himself.

Sumter Police Chief Russell F. Roark III said that Charles Slacks Jr., 42, entered his ex-wife’s home — which he co-owned — using a key at about 10 p.m. He found his former wife, Aletha Holliday, in the backyard, speaking with a co-worker, later identified as 38-year-old Sgt. Major Carlos Evans, according to WIS.

Slacks shot Evans, then went inside and shot and killed the three children as they slept.

The children were identified as Aayden Holliday-Slacks, 5; Aason Holliday-Slacks, 6; and Ava Holliday, 11. Slacks was the father of the two younger children.

Roark said that Holliday headed upstairs, following her former husband, after he shot Evans, but she backed away when he turned the gun on her. Holliday’s phone was charging upstairs, and she went back outside to search for Evans’ cell phone.

“She goes back outside of the residence, where the first individual had been shot, in search of his cell phone, wasn’t able to locate that,” Roark said. “Then she hears several gunshots.”

Holliday ran back inside and encountered Slacks at the top of the stairs, where he shot himself. She checked on the children, Roark said, and found them all dead.

Evans was taken to hospital, where he later died. He was the command sergeant major for Headquarters and Headquarters Batttalion, US Army Central, an Army spokesman said.

“Command Sgt. Maj. Carlos Evans was an outstanding leader and caring friend who inspired and lifted up all those around him,” said Lt. Gen. Patrick D. Frank, U.S. Army Central Commanding General.

According to court records, Holliday and Slacks were officially divorced on March 2.

Aletha Holliday, also a veteran, spoke for the first time since the murders in a Facebook post on Thursday.

She has since posted funeral information and declined to speak with reporters.

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[Featured image: Aason Holiday-Slacks, Ava Holliday, and Aayden Holliday-Slacks/Facebook. Inset: Carlos Evans/Facebook]