>>reporter: on friday, police discovered charles dalton sr., his wife and the couple's two children, 14-year old charles jr. and seven-year old emline, all dead inside their home on contour road. investigators say charles sr. used a shotgun to kill his family and their dog before killing himself. >> it's hard enough to let one person go, but to see the entire family go, it's harder. >>reporter: outside the home, a make-shift memorial grows with the photo of a smiling emliel and a football photo. >> it's been a tough weekend. it's been very difficult with us. >>reporter: he was a junior firefighter, which responded to the home friday night. >> he was very polite. he was

tonight, will have much more on and charles dalton sr., the father, and more about the financial issues. melissa carlson, wbal tv 11 news. >>> there have been at least four other family murder-suicide in maryland in the last 2 1/2 years, three involving residents of frederick county. >>> a baltimore county man is in hospital after anne arundel county police had to shoot him. the police say it started with a traffic stop. the man fled and struck an officer in the process. the police say he tried to run them over again in baltimore county. officers said they were forced to shoot but he got away. he was later apprehended after checking himself into say agnes hospital with multiple gunshot wounds -- after checking himself into st. agnes hospital with multiple gunshot wounds. >>> baltimore county police are looking for a person who killed an elderly man and white march. the police said it received a call last night that the man was in cardiac arrest. by the time to respond, he had already died. an autopsy showed the manner of death was homicide. there is no word on how he was killed. >>> a s

airy volunteer fire company. >> reporter: police say 38-year-old charles dalton sr. called his wife jennifer and hire two kids, 14-year-old charlie and 7-year-old emmaline. each was shot once. they were found in their beds, the bodies discovered inside their home on friday evening. police say dalton took his own life, his body found on the floor next to the bed in the master bedroom. >> people in the neighborhood just are trying to put the puzzle pieces together. we just haven't fured out how this could have happened. >> reporter: police say dalton was a self-employed cabinet maker and carpenter and was a night shift maintenance worke with montgomery county schools. jennifer dalton worked at a veterinary hospital in damascus. so far, police have found no clear motive for the murder-suicide. >> just a shock. just, you know, the only reason my little girl got to sleep last night was she was exhausted from crying. >> reporter: emmaline was a second grader at twin ridge elementary school. charlie's fellow junior firefighters were told about his death at a meeting at the

then charles dalton sr. turned the shotgun on himself.em with love, stuffed animals and flowers. charles danton sr. kill his wife, jennifer, his son who was 14, a jr. firefighter and his daughter emmanline. >> wonderful little girl. >> reporter: it's left the neighborhood grief stricken. children are learning about death in an abrupt way. >> i said your friend emmanline is dead. i said the dad was probably mentally ill. >> reporter: the bodies discovered yesterday when jennifer didn't know up for work. someone came to the house and spotted a body through window. >> all died from a single gun shot wound to the head. the wife and two children were victims of murder and the husband's death was a result of suicide. >> reporter: a pastor wonders how it could happen. she doesn't know the family but wanted to comfort anyone needing it. >> people should be involved in other people's lives. >> the question is why, and why again. >> reporter: another father killed the family in frederick county. the daltons were trying to sell their home. they were

that 38-year-old charles dalton sr. killed his wife and two children as they slept and turned the 12 gauge shotgun on himself. >> it's devastating to everyone. >> i don't know what to say. it's horrible somebody could do that. >> reporter: neighbors are at a loss to say why. this was a church-going family but some believed there were financial issues. >> i see he's got his house up for sale and the economy has been stressful for a lot of people. >> reporter: this could be difficult for young people. charlie and emmaline were popular kids, well liked and now such a sudden and terrible loss. >> this thursday he was laughing and giggling about stuff. it was horrible to find out the next day he was gone. >> prayed two times they will reach heaven. >>> a suspect is in jail after being shot and wounded after he rammed his car into a aplace car. started in ann arundle county. he was pulled over for having expired tags and had a suspended drivers license. police say williams stopped but then pulled away, nearly hitting the offi

police say charles dalton, sr., the father, killed his wife jennifer, his son charles, jr., 14, and his daughter emmaline, 7. >> his cousin lives with us and they play together and chevis there last sunday. vibrant, wonderful little girl. >> reporter: the tragedy has left the neighborhood grief stricken. children are learning about death in an abrupt, hurtful death. >> she asked why her father would do that. i said he was probably mentally ill. >> reporter: the bodies were discovered when jennifer dalton didn't show up for work. someone came to the house and spotted a body through the window. >> they all died from a single gunshot wound to the head. the medical examiner said that the wife and two children were victims of murder and that the husband's death was as a result of a suicide. >> reporter: a pastor wonders how could it happen? even though she doesn't know the family she wanted to comfort anyone needing it. >> if there is hurting things going on or problems, people should be involved in other people's lives. >> reporter: the question the community has is why. and why again? earl

. >> investigators believe that charles dalton sr., 38, killed his wife, jennifer, and their two children as they slept in their beds. then turned the murder weapon, a 12 gauge shotgun, on himself. >> is devastating to everybody. >> neighbors say there were a nice, churchgoing family. some believe there were financial issues. >> the house is up for sale, and the economy has been tough on a lot of people. about even the young this year say they miss charlie and emmaline. >> in my journal, i am writing a journal to her. >> this is a tight-knit community. many found out what happened during a high-scho football game friday night. for a lot of people, this will be a difficult evening to get through. richard reeve, abc 7 news. >>> president obama is trying to keep the heat on iraq after revealing they are building a secret nuclear plant. the intelligence reports say the facility built in the mountains is capable of producing fuel for nuclear weapons. mr. obama used his weekly address to call on iran to cooperate with the international community. barely >> tears must choose. they could live up

>>reporter: on friday, police discovered charles dalton sr., his wife and the couple's two children, 14-year old charles jr. and seven-year old emline, all dead inside their home on contour road. investigators say charles sr. used a shotgun to kill his family and their dog before killing himself. >> it's hard enough to let one person go, but to see the entire family go, it's harder. >>reporter: outside the home, a make-shift memorial grows with the photo of a smiling emliel and a football photo. >> it's been a tough weekend. it's been very difficult with us. >>reporter: he was a junior firefighter, which responded to the home friday night. >> he was very polite. he was well-man erred. he's one of the guys you like to have a round. >>reporter: so religious they wrote scriptures on a rock outside their home. on most sundays, the family was here at the elementary school, which is the place their church uses to worship. members of the church declined sfwrus, but religious leaders around the community say it's important to share in each other's grief. >> it makes people wonder why? what's

sometime between thursday and friday evening, charles dalton sr. killed his wife, two children and the family dog. the psychologist we spoke to explains why financial problems are linked to what is now known as milicide. >> as people get more and more desperate, more pressure on them, more legal aspects happening, people do desperate things when they're overstressed and overwhelmed. >> on average, there are four to six of these cases in the u.s. each year. in the last two and a half years, however, there have been six cases in the state of maryland alone. baltimore county baltimore county police continue to search for the person who killed an elderly man in rosedale. police were called to the 1200 block of hilldale road friday night for reports of a man in cardiac arrest when they arrived, they found david weeks dead at the scene. an autopsy report revealed his death was a homicide. anyone with information should call metro crime stoppers. >> 20 years. that's how long a baltimore county prosecutor wants a man to serve behind bars for crashing into

>>reporter: state police found 38-year old charles dalton sr., his wife 37-year old jennifer and the couple's two children 14-year old charles jr. and seven-year old emline all dead inside their home in the 300 block of contour road. investigators say charles sr. used a 12-gauge shotgun to kill his wife and children while they were sleeping in their beds. he killed the family dog before turning the gun on himself, but left no suicide note behind. >> everybody said they were happy people. this is a total shocker for everybody. >>reporter: police believe the killings happened between thursday night and friday morning, but it was a family friend who out of concern, stopped by the house and made the discovery. neighbors say the family's home had been on the market well over a year, but apparently were only about a month away from finally closing on a deal. >> it didn't seem to be like a state of depression or anything like that. they seemed fine. >>reporter: chris lives a few doors down from the family's home. he said seven-year old emline often came to his house to play with his little