Three kids among six dead in Tennessee murder-suicide

Six people — including three kids — were killed in a murder-suicide in Tennessee that the local sheriff called “one of the worst things” he’d witnessed in four decades on the job.

Cops were first called to the house in suburban Chattanooga late Thursday after reports of several gunshots — with the house ablaze by the time officers arrived.

Along with the six bodies — including suspect Gary Don Barnett — they then found a seventh person who’d been shot but was still alive, Marion County Sheriff Bo Burnett said.

“This is one of the worst things I’ve seen,” the sheriff told WTVC-TV of the carnage including three kids.

“You hear about these things but this is one of the worst I’ve been involved in all my career as a law enforcement officer,” he told the outlet of his 43 years on the job.

Apart from Barnett, the owner of the Sequatchie home, officials have not released the names of the dead, nor the ages of the slain children.

However, the sheriff said the kids’ mom and grandmother were among the dead.

“It’s a domestic situation, evidently that has been ongoing for a pretty good while, Burnett told the outlet.

It was not immediately clear how many of the victims had been shot because at least two appeared to have died from smoke inhalation, the sheriff said.

However, neighbor Sylvia Cooper told WTVC-TV she “heard five shots.”

“I heard gunshots and breaking glass,” she said.

The survivor, who was not identified, remains in a Chattanooga hospital, officials said, without detailing the severity of the injuries.

The case will be investigated by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.