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WASHINGTON: Two adults and three children were found dead at a residence in Cecil County, in the US state of Maryland, on Friday.

The Cecil County Sheriff’s Office said in a release that a male individual called 911 in the morning to report that three children and a female had been shot and were dead.

Deputies arrived at the residence in the unit block of Hebron Court in Elk Mills and observed an unresponsive subject inside of the detached garage.

They entered the residence where they ultimately discovered five dead people in various locations inside the residence and the detached garage, according to the release, reported Xinhua.

“All of the deceased appeared to have suffered gunshot wounds,” the release read. “A semi-automatic handgun was located near the dead man.”

“This is a tragic and terrible day for our county and our community,” Cecil County Sheriff Scott Adams told reporters Friday afternoon.

Investigators are currently on the scene executing a search and seizure warrant and actively investigating the incident.

A reverse 911 call was said to have been put out in the immediate area to indicate that there was no threat to the public. The five fatally wounded were not immediately identified as authorities struggled to notify next of kin about the deaths, officials said nearly seven hours after that 911 call.

Sheriff Adams said the youngest victims were in the fifth, seventh and eight grades.

One of the bodies was found in the garage, another on the first floor and three inside the home’s second floor, officials said.

“All the deceased appeared to have suffered gunshot wounds,” he said. “A semi-automatic handgun was located near the deceased adult male.” The male caller showed little emotion during the 911 call and “was almost catatonic” while speaking, according to Adams.

“It was very short,” Chief Deputy Gerald Widdoes said of the 911 call. “The subject hung up. We attempted to make calls back to the residence that went unanswered.”

The shooting happened about 60 miles northeast of Baltimore and 20 miles southwest of Wilmington, Delaware.