Florida man shoots and kills daughter and six grandchildren before turning gun on himself

Don Spirit, 51, reportedly had an extensive criminal history

An undated handout image released by the Florida Department of Corrections on 18 September 2014 showing Don C. Spirit who police say allegedly shot and killed his daughter, six grandchildren and then killed himself as the first deputy arrived at the scene (EPA/FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTION)

Residents of the tiny town of Bell in northern Florida were last night grasping for answers after a local man with a known record of run-ins with the law, including time spent in prison for a shooting accident that killed one of his sons, took the lives of seven members of his own family, including six grandchildren, before killing himself.

Police revealed that they had received a call from the shooter, 51-year-old Donald Spirit, on Thursday afternoon; he said he was about to hurt himself and others. When officers arrived at the home they spoke to him briefly but he then committed suicide. Inside they found gunshot victims lying “all over the property”.

Those he had killed before taking his own life, according to officials, included his daughter, Sarah Spirit, and six minors, thought to have been his grandchildren, aged from 11 years to three months. There were others in the house found alive. It was not clear if Ms Spirit was the mother of all the children killed.

There were no indications of a motive for the mass murder-suicide, or about what special attention local police had, or had not, been paying to Mr Spirit, given his past history which included handling guns. Officers had frequently been called to the same house in the past for a “wide range of things”, the police department conceded.

“This is a small county. We’re all family here … There are certain things in life you can explain, and there are some things you can’t,” the local county sheriff, Robert Schultz, commented.

“We will continue to be family, and we will work through this. We have no indication what caused this man to do what he did. We may never know,” he added.

With a population of barely 500, the town of Bell was inevitably shaken by the violence and such extensive loss of life in its midst.

“It’s tragic, the kids. Even if there were family problems, why involve the kids?” asked local resident Daniel Barry. “It’s enough that he took his daughter’s life, but his grandkids, too? It’s surreal.”

The gunman’s daughter, Sarah, was 28 years old. The dead children were identified as Kaleb Kuhlmann, 11; Kylie Kuhlmann, nine; Johnathon Kuhlmann, eight; Destiny Stewart, five; Brandon Stewart, four; and Alanna Stewart, who was born in June.

“We are asking for prayers for this community and the families involved,” Mr Schultz said at a news conference.

Mr Spirit killed one of his sons, Kyle, during a 2001 hunting trip. Accounts at the time said he had been pointing out rust on the muzzle of his gun when it went off and the bullet struck Kyle, who was eight, in the head. Because he had had a previous drugs conviction and was not allowed to own a firearm, he was sent to prison for three years.

An interview he gave to an Orlando newspaper in 2003 indicated a man deeply disturbed by what had happened. He told the reporter had been prescribed medicine to help him cope with Kyle’s death and had been to a mental health facility. “The medication, I’ve tried it. It ain’t working,” he said. “The one medicine I have is my family.”

Police in Bell, which is located about 35 miles west of the university town of Gainesville, did not release details about what weapon or weapons they had recovered at the scene, or the identities of those others who were found still alive after the shootings.