Florida man takes own life after killing daughter, 6 grandchildren

Florida police will search on Friday for clues to why 51-year-old Don Spirit shot dead his daughter and her six children before turning the gun on himself.

Deputies were scouring the scene of the murder-suicide that left eight people dead on Thursday, but no motive had yet been identified.

Gilchrist County Sheriff Robert Schultz said Spirit called the 911 emergency line and killed himself after deputies arrived at the house.

Everyone in the home was dead, including Sarah Spirit, 28, and her six children aged between 11 years old and younger than three months.

"We have no indication what caused this man to do what he did," Schultz told a news conference on Thursday night. "We may never know."

Schultz said that officers had been called to Spirit's home near the small town of Bell, about 35 miles (56 km) west of Gainesville, numerous times in the past.

A New Jersey native, Spirit had an extensive criminal history, according to public records, including convictions for drug and illegal weapons possession, battery, and depriving a child of food and shelter.

In 2001, Spirit shot his 8-year-old son to death in what was deemed to be a hunting accident, the Orlando Sentinel newspaper reported.

He pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm as a convicted felon in connection with the case and was sentenced in a plea deal to three years in prison, the paper reported.