Five children and three adults have been found dead in a home in Houston, Texas, after an hour-long siege with an armed man.

Deputies called at an address in Falling Oaks Road on Saturday to perform a welfare check, Harris County Sheriff spokesman Thomas Gilliland told KHOU-TV.

They received information that a man in the house was wanted on a charge of aggravated assault of a family member. Deputies said that while waiting for a specialist High Risk Operations Unit to arrive, they spotted the body of a child through the window.

Four deputies then forced their way into the house, and were fired on by the 49-year-old suspect inside, forcing them to pull back and wait for the specialist unit to arrive. About an hour negotiators persuaded the man to surrender, and police found eight bodies inside the home.

"At this time we have what appears to be five children and three adults," Gilliland said. "Ages and genders we do not have, and cause of death we do not have. The medical examiner will have to determine a cause of death."

No further details about the man and the victims were released.

"Homicide detectives have taken over the operation along with our crime scene unit," said Gilliland.

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