German police on Monday said a man shot dead his wife and their two children thereafter killed himself in their home in southern Germany.
The bodies of the family of four were discovered on Friday evening in a flat in the town of Strullendorf, to the north of Nuremberg, prosecutors and police said in a joint statement.
According to the statement, the family’s landlord alerted police after he was unable to reach his tenants and started to worry.
Investigators said the father, a 52-year-old German national, owned several fire arms which were all licensed and was used to kill the family, a 14-year-old son and a 6-year-old daughter.
Investigations into the exact circumstances of the crime are ongoing, but so far there is no indication of third-party involvement, police said.
dpa/NAN