Extra counselors at Baytown school attended by boys allegedly killed by mother
BAYTOWN, Texas (KTRK) -- Extra counselors will be on hand Tuesday at Victoria Walker Elementary, the Baytown school attended by two young boys police say were killed by their mother in an apparent-murder suicide.
The children and their parents were staying at San Luis Resort in Galveston.
Galveston police said they were called to the resort property at 4:30 a.m. Monday after hotel guests reported hearing "pops" from one of the rooms on the 8th floor.
When police arrived, the hotel room was locked and a faint moaning was heard inside. When they forced their way in, authorities say they found a man and two boys - ages 10 and 5 years old - on the bed with gunshot wounds.
Police also found a woman on the floor who appeared to have been shot as well.
The man, who police identified as Mauricio Morales, and one of the children were pronounced dead at the scene. The woman and the other boy were taken to University of Texas Medical Branch hospital where they died.
Police said evidence indicated the woman, Flor DePineda, may have shot Morales, who was her husband, and their two kids before turning the gun on herself.
Police added the deceased family members from Baytown checked in to the hotel around 7 p.m. Sunday.
Goose Creek ISD confirmed the children attended classes at Walker Elementary.
The school district released a statement following word of the boys' deaths.
"The tragic circumstances surrounding these students' deaths are almost too much to bear," said Goose Creek ISD in a statement. "A student death can have a ripple effect on a school community and, because of this and out of concern for the students' classmates and the campus faculty, we will have additional counseling services at the school. We are grieving for the loss of young life and its infinite possibilities and we pray for the family, friends and students most affected by this tragedy."
Capt. Joshua Schirard, of the Galveston Police Department, said they are not looking for any suspects.
"Our thoughts are with the victims and their family members during this difficult time. We are still gathering information about this isolated incident, however it appears to have been a murder suicide amongst a family in their room," said Paul Schultz, Vice President of Hospitality for Landry's Inc. "We are fully cooperating with the police department during their investigation and will assist them in any way we can."
Police have no immediate word on a motive for the killings and plan to speak with more family members and friends Tuesday to see if there were any signs leading up the murder.
Relatives in this case have declined to comment.
Landry's Inc. owns the San Luis Hotel and Conference Center.
