Two kids, 13 and 4, jump out window to escape as father kills mum in murder-suicide

In a traumatic incident in Massachusetts on Tuesday, two kids had to jump out a window to escape home during a violent argument in which the father seemingly killed their mother in a murder-suicide.

According to a report in ABC-6, the crime took place shortly after 5:20 pm at a home in the town of Oxford. A 13-year-old grabbed his four-year-old sibling and jumped through a window after the shooting started, and ran to safety at a neighbour's home.

A three-year-old child was still in the house during the shooting, but was left uninjured. The deceased couple had two of the children together, while one was the woman's son from a previous marriage.

According to CBS News in Boston, police believe that the man shot his girlfriend, whose body was found in the kitchen. He then turned the gun on himself in the backyard.

Oxford Police Department has reported that all three children are now in the care of their relatives, and are also receiving trauma-related services. Animal control officers removed the family's two rottweilers on Wednesday. Meanwhile, authorities and neighbours are commending the teen for his quick thinking in the horrifying circumstances.

Worcester District Attorney Joseph Early said about the teen on Tuesday night, "The 13-year-old was a pretty courageous young kid. He took the 4-year-old in his arms and opened a window, ran out the window to a neighbor's house."

Their neighbour Alex Clemens said he has a security camera on his home across the street which showed the boy jumping out of a front window with his 4-year-old sibling, alive, in his arms. "I just wish I had gotten more, kind of a sign from her that it was that serious. I feel like I could have done something. It was very hard to watch," Clemens said.

Another neighbour named Rich Linehan said, "To actually do the right thing in that situation is hard when you only have a couple seconds, and you know he did the right thing."

A third neighbour Jeff Emco said that they often heard the couple fighting and knew there were guns in the home, but did not think it would come to this. "He used to go shooting down by the river in the back of our house, our property," Emco said.