4 dead in murder-suicide in Elkridge, police say

ELKRIDGE, Md. - Three people were shot and killed Thursday night at a house in Elkridge in an apparent murder-suicide, according to police. 

Howard County police say they were called to the 6900 block of Norwood Ferry around 10 p.m. after neighbors reported hearing gunshots.

Officers located three women dead inside the home. 

Police say the suspect, 61-year-old Nayyar Syed, was transported to the hospital with critical injuries and died overnight. 

The three women have been identified as 57-year-old Syeda Nayyar, the suspect's wife, his daughter 25-year-old Syeda Fatima, and his daughter-in-law, 33-year-old Alizey Fatima. 

His son, 31-year-old Muhammad Hamza, was also taken to the hospital and is currently being treated. 

Sherry Llewellyn, spokesperson for the Howard County Police Department, said there were no known prior calls to the home.

"Everyone involved in the incident resided in that home, except the suspect. It is our understanding he routinely visited the residence. No signs of forced entry. We don’t know what led up to the shooting. We don’t know what the circumstances were surrounding the moments before the incident occurred," Llewellyn said at a press conference Friday.

Llewellyn added that neighbors called 911, along with the suspect.

"The dispatcher has indicated to us that when he called he did take responsibility for shooting the members of his family and advised he was preparing to shoot himself," she said.

Multiple people who live in the neighborhood said they saw the family, but they mostly kept to themselves. One man who asked FOX 5 not to release his name said he saw police outside Thursday night, but he didn’t know what happened until Friday.

"That’s crazy. I mean, gun violence is crazy. But to go inside and do that? That’s the kind of evil you can’t explain," he said. "Like it happens so often, you can’t help but think again? It happened again? I don’t think there’s much we can do at this point to stop like this from happening. It’s just how we react to it afterwards."

A 3-month-old, the suspect's granddaughter, was also in the house during the shooting. Police say she was not harmed and will be placed in the custody of a family member. 

The investigation is continuing at this time.