Deputies: Man kills 3 family members, then himself in SC

ST. MATTHEWS, S.C. – A man shot and killed three members of his family and then killed himself after an argument in their South Carolina home, authorities said.

Two children escaped from the home in St. Matthews during the shooting around 7 p.m. Sunday, Calhoun County Sheriff Thomas Summers said.

Gabriel Jordan, 37, killed Shanta Singleton, 37, and two of her daughters — Essence Stroman, 15, and Trevay Stroman, 12 — before killing himself, said Calhoun County Coroner Donnie Porth.

One of the two children who escaped was shot in the arm and treated at the hospital.

The shooting happened after an argument, Summers said in a statement that didn’t include additional details on the dispute.

Summers called the violence senseless and unimaginable in his county of around 15,000 people about 40 miles (64 kilometres) southeast of Columbia.