BELL, Fla. – A grandfather shot his daughter and her six children Thursday in Gilchrist County before calling 911 and committing suicide, according to law enforcement.
Don Spirit, 51, called deputies about 4 p.m. from his home in Bell, Fla., a town of 350 people about 30 miles west of Gainesville.
The first deputy on scene at the home at Northwest 30th Street and Northwest 39th Terrace made contact with Spirit, who later killed himself, according to the Gilchrist County Sheriff’s Office.
Sarah Lorraine Spirit, 28, his daughter, was found in the home with her six children. The Sheriff’s Office identified them as Kaleb Kuhlmann, 11, Kylie Kuhlmann, 9, Johnathon Kuhlmann, 8, Destiny Stewart, 5, Brandon Stewart, 4 and Alanna Stewart, 2 ½ months.
All had apparent gunshot wounds.
“From a small county, we’re all family here,” Sheriff Robert D. Schultz III told reporters. “What can you say? There’s certain things in life that you can’t explain, there are certain things you can. This is not one that I can explain.”
Spirit has a criminal history, the sheriff said, without detailing his charges. Deputies had been to his home in the past for a “wide range of occasions.”
Schultz asked for the public to pray for the community.
“The poor children tomorrow morning when they go to school, how devastating is that going to be for them,” he said.
According to the Orlando Sentinel , Don Charles Spirit accidentally shot his 8-year-old son to death on Nov. 14, 2001, while on a hunting trip to Three Lakes Wildlife Management area near Kenansville.
The shooting occurred while Spirit pointed out rust on the muzzle of a high-powered rifle and it fired, the newspaper reported.
The shooting left Spirit devastated.
