Police: Montana man kills wife and 3 children, sets fire to cabin and shoots self

Police tape rings a fire-damaged cabin in the Beaverhead-Deer Lodge Forest outside Deer Lodge, Mont., on Monday, June 8, 2015, where a Montana man shot and killed his wife and three children, set a fire in the family's remote cabin and then killed himself, officials in Anaconda-Deer Lodge County said. The shootings happened Sunday morning at a one-room log cabin in the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest about 15 miles southeast of the town of Deer Lodge, Police Chief Tim Barkell said. Barkell was withholding the names of the victims and the shooter until relatives could be notified. (AP Photo/Matt Volz) (The Associated Press)

Detective Steve Barclay stands in front of a fire-damaged cabin in the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest outside Deer Lodge, Mont., on Monday, June 8, 2015, where a Montana man shot and killed his wife and three children Sunday morning, set a fire in the family's remote cabin and then killed himself, officials in Anaconda-Deer Lodge County said. Detective Steve Barclay said an investigation determined the man shot his wife and 1-year-old child inside, then went outside and shot two other children — ages 4 and 6. He carried the bodies of the children inside and laid them down on a bed in the cabin, Barclay said. (AP Photo/Matt Volz) (The Associated Press)

A Montana man shot and killed his wife and three children, set the family's cabin on fire and then killed himself.

Anaconda-Deer Lodge Police Chief Tim Barkell tells The Montana Standard (http://bit.ly/1dXDWll) the shootings happened Sunday morning at a cabin about 15 miles southeast of Deer Lodge.

Barkell withheld the names of the victims and the shooter until other relatives could be notified.

Barkell says the shooter called a friend around 10 a.m. Sunday to say he was going to kill his family and himself. The friend called 911.

Officers arriving at the cabin had to wait for firefighters because of the smoke and heat inside.

Coroner Jerry Thomas says he transported the bodies to the state crime lab in Missoula on Sunday afternoon.

The town of Deer Lodge north of Butte on Interstate 90.

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Information from: The Montana Standard, http://www.mtstandard.com