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PORT ST. JOHN, Fla. – A mother killed her four children Tuesday morning, calling three of them back into her home to fatally shoot them before turning a gun on herself, according to investigators . The body of one female was found in the front yard. By Tim Shortt, AP
Emergency personnel surround the scene of a multiple shooting in Port St. John, Fla.
By Tim Shortt, APEmergency personnel surround the scene of a multiple shooting in Port St. John, Fla.
Joel Johnson, 12; Jazlin Johnson, 13; Jaxs Johnson, 15; and Pebbles Johnson, 17, died. Their mother, Tonya Thomas, 33, reportedly sent a text to a friend saying she wanted to be cremated with her children, said Tod Goodyear of the Brevard County Sheriff's Office, which is leading the investigation.Sheriff's deputies and the SWAT team responded to the home just after a 5 a.m. call of shots fired. The deaths are worst instance of multiple homicides in Brevard County since the April 1987. In that instance, William Cruse killed six people, including two Palm Bay, Fla., police officers during a shooting spree.Goodyear said police saw someone in the house and decided to enter shortly after 7 a.m. That's when they discovered the four additional bodies.Goodyear said police had been to the house previously but would not elaborate.Travis St. Peter, 27, who lived about three houses down from the family until two days ago, said the family was known in the neighborhood for being disruptive and said police were often at the house."They were just known for being hoodlums," St. Peter said of the children. The mother was regularly yelling at the children, who were often running around the neighborhood late at night, "terrorizing our dogs and setting off firecrackers," St. Peter said.For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.