Police surrounded the 72-year-old man's house after he barricaded himself in the property last night with the children, aged 10 and 13.
A Spanish pensioner has allegedly killed his two grandchildren before shooting himself – two months after his wife and daughter died in a car accident while he was driving.
Police surrounded the 72-year-old man’s house after he barricaded himself in the property last night with the children, aged 10 and 13.
Their three bodies were found this morning around 8.30am after armed forces made their way into the home in Huetor Tajar, a town near the southern Spanish city of Granada.
Sources close to the investigation have claimed one of the children had gunshot wounds and they believed the other could have been suffocated.
Civil Guard investigators are working with the theory the pensioner shot himself using the same firearm he is believed to have used on one of his grandchildren after ending the other child’s life.
This morning it emerged that the childrens’ granddad had been driving a car which hit a wall at the entrance to a tunnel on the road between Huetor Vega and the town of Loja on March 19.
His wife and daughter, the mother of the two children found dead this morning, died after being cut from the wreckage of the vehicle and taken to hospital.
The children were also in the car that crashed – one is believed to have broken a leg in the accident and was still wearing a cast.
But yesterday, police negotiators and a Civil Guard unit from Madrid were mobilised around 10pm yesterday after they received reports a man with a licensed hunting rifle had barricaded himself into his home with his grandchildren.
He is said to have argued with his son-in-law, who has since been treated for shock.
Local reports said the grandfather told cops around 5am this morning he was going to stop talking to them because he had to get the kids ready for school soon.
Armed officers decided to force their way into the property after the youngsters and their grandfather failed to appear around the time they would have been expected to leave for school.
Huetor Tajar’s mayor Fernando Delgado has declared three days of mourning in the municipality and suspended the last day of a local festival.
He said in a statement: ‘We would like to convey our sorrow at this time, and offer all our support and condolences to the families of those affected.’
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