US man kills daughter, six grandchildren in Florida shooting

A man who spent time in prison a decade ago for the shooting death of his son killed six of his grandchildren, his adult daughter and himself in a rampage at a home where authorities say they had been called to in the past.

The shooter, 51-year-old Don Spirit, called emergency dispatch opn Thursday afternoon to say he might harm himself or others, Sherrif Robert Schultz, from Gilchrist County in the US state of Florida, said. When an officer arrived, Spirit committed suicide and authorities then found the seven gunshot victims "all over on the property".

Official records showed that both Spirit and his daughter, 28-year-old Sarah Lorraine Spirit, had arrest records.

Schultz would not say if a weapon was recovered. He did not suggest a motive for the massacre but said deputies had been to the home in the past.

"There's still a lot of unanswered questions. There's going to be questions that we're never going to get answered," he said.

Schultz also did not say if Sarah Spirit was the mother of any of the two boys and four girls, some of whom spent a lot of time at the rural home. All the children were aged 11 or under, the youngest just three months old.