The incident took place yesterday near Bell, a town of about 500, located roughly 48 kms west of Gainesville, where a man identified as Don Spirit (51) killed his daughter and her six children, aged 3 months to 10 years, before killing himself, Gilchrist County deputies said.
The shooter contacted emergency services '911' at about 4 pm, officials said adding, the first deputy to arrive at the house made a contact with Spirit before he committed suicide.
"They had been called to the residence before for a "wide range of issues," deputies said at a news conference.
The identities of the victims have not been released yet, nor the motive behind the shooting.
In 2001, Spirit had shot his 9-year-old son during a hunting trip, when his rifle went off as he cleaned rust from the barrel, killing his son. The incident was later ruled as an accident, the Tampa Bay Times reported.
"We are asking for prayers for this community and the families involved. We ask for patience from the media and public as we work through this investigation," the Gilchrist County Sheriff's Office said in a statement on its Facebook page.
In another incident earlier this month, three people were killed and two others critically wounded in a shooting in a residential neighbourhood in south Kansas City.
Last month, a nine-year-old girl had accidentally shot dead a shooting instructor who was teaching her how to use an Uzi submachine gun.
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