Report: Calif. mother stabbed boyfriend, shot 2 children, 1 man, then herself

(CBS/KGPE) FRESNO, Calif - Four people are dead in an apparent murder-suicide perpetrated by a woman in central California.

The incident started just before seven Sunday morning when police responded to a disturbance at an apartment building in Fresno.

According to the Fresno Bee, police found a man with a stab wound outside the door to the apartment. As they helped the man, they learned there were children inside and heard a single gunshot. Inside, reports the newspaper, they found a woman in her 20s - believed to be the stabbing victim's wife or girlfriend - with a self-inflicted gunshot wound, and two children, both fatally shot.

Another man, also in his 20s or 30s, was reportedly found shot to death in the kitchen. According to the Bee, the deceased children were an 18-month-old girl and 3-year-old boy.

"It's shocking and it's devastating," neighbor Rosa Gutierrez told CBS affiliate KGPE.

Gutierrez lives next door and says the couple, whose names have not been released, had been arguing all night. Police say it appears the mother shot her children and another adult in the apartment before turning the gun on herself.

"Her way of controlling the situation was taking her own life and her kids... The people she brought into this world, with her," Gutierrez said.

Neighbors say all of the children play together in this complex. They say the couple was quiet and mostly kept to themselves.

"This is a whole family... Not just one person, a whole damn family," said neighbor Eric Gonzalez.