A 27-year-old California man allegedly stabbed his wife to death yesterday and then drove to another home where he killed four other family members - an elderly couple, a nine-year-old girl, and a young boy found dead on the front porch, police said.
Police gathered outside the modest duplex apartment in this Sacramento suburb described a scene of carnage inside, apparently sparked by a family feud in a quiet immigrant community.
"We have a total of five victims, one suspect responsible for all five," the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department spokesman, Mr James Lewis, told reporters.
Police said they received the report of the first murder in the Sacramento-area suburb of North Highlands early yesterday morning, and while investigating that incident received repo9rts of more killings in Rancho Cordova, a nearby suburb.
In both cases, neighbours called authorities to alert them to disturbances in the homes.
At Rancho Cordova duplex, police reported finding a dead boy on the front porch.The child had been initially identified as an infant, but police later said he appeared to be about 10 years old.
Inside they found two more dead - an elderly couple believed to be related to the man identified as a suspect, 27-year-old Mr Nikolay Soltys.
Police also found a 9-year-old girls at the scene suffering from severe stab wounds.
She was transported to the University of California, Davis Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead on arrival, a hospital spokeswoman said.
Police at the scene said all of the victims appeared to have been stabbed.
Police also said a 3-year-old boy - a son of the suspect and the woman who was the first victim - was missing.
Mr Lewis said Mr Soltys had been seen driving near both murder sites. Mr Soltys, believed to be a Russian immigrant, was identified as the husband of the first victim.
"He is considered armed and dangerous," Mr Lewis told reporters. "We do want to find him as quickly as possible."
"He has already gone on a rampage . . . wen want to eliminate the possibility that we have more victims," he said.
Police said they were seeking to unravel the family connections between the various victims, all of whom are believed to be cousins.