SWANTON, Ohio – A man who stabbed his wife shot an investigating deputy, then held his family hostage before he and the couple's two children were found dead, authorities said.
The bodies of Clarence Saunders, 58, and his children, 10-year-old Lauren and 5-year-old Jacob, were found Saturday in the home near Swanton, about 30 miles west of Toledo, according to the Fulton County sheriff's office.
Saunders called 911 around 7 a.m. and reported that his wife, Patricia, was bleeding from a cut to the abdomen, authorities said.
"What did she cut herself on, sir?" the dispatcher asked, according to a tape of the 911 call.
"I don't know. I'm just, I'm just frantic, and she is too," Saunders replied.
Patricia Saunders told medical personnel her husband had stabbed her, and they summoned sheriff's deputies.
Deputy Rick Brock, who entered the home after learning children were inside, was shot twice in the shoulder, the sheriff's office said.
A negotiator made several calls to the home that went unanswered. Officers from Lucas County then entered the home and found the man and his children dead, authorities said.
The children were shot several times and Clarence Saunders was shot once in the head, the Lucas County coroner's office told The (Toledo) Blade.
Brock and Patricia Saunders were flown by medical helicopter to St. Vincent Medical Center in Toledo. Hospital officials would not release their conditions late Saturday.
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