Man fatally shoots wife and her parents before killing himself in Ocean County, N.J.

From Camden and Cherry Hill to Trenton and the Jersey Shore, what about life in New Jersey do you want WHYY News to cover? Let us know.

Officials say an Ocean County man shot and killed his wife and her parents before turning the gun on himself Tuesday in an apparent murder-suicide.

The Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office said in a release that Vaughn Stewart, 37, of Maplewood, fatally shot his wife, Deonna Stewart, 38, and her parents, Allan Russell, 61, and Michelle Russell, 60, before he died of suicide.

Prosecutors said Berkeley Township police first responded to a report of shots fired at a residence on Fairwood Drive around 5 a.m. Tuesday.

According to the office, officers saw Vaughn Stewart entering the residence and then heard additional gunfire inside. When police went inside, the officers found the Russells shot to death and Vaughn Stewart dead after shooting himself in the head, prosecutors wrote. Three children were found unharmed inside the house.

Canvassing the nearby area, officers later found Deonna Stewart dead from gunshot wounds about 50 yards from the home.

Prosecutors said an investigation found that Deonna Stewart lived in the residence with her parents, along with her and Vaughn’s three children. Deonna and Vaughn Stewart had been living separately, prosecutors said.

The office wrote that Vaughn Stewart entered the home and killed the Russells before chasing and killing his wife outside. He then returned to the house and killed himself, prosecutors said.

The three children have been placed in the care of the Department of Child Protection and Permanency. Police said there’s no further danger to the public.