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Chennai: An Indian IT professional in the US opened fire at his family members following a quarrel with his brother-in-law, killing five people, including three children. He then shot himself dead, a relative in a Tamil Nadu village said Tuesday.The shootout took place Monday night (IST) in Santa Clara, a town in the Silicon Valley.

Family quarrel"My son-in-law Devarajan had a quarrel with my son Ashokan and shot everyone in the family including my son, daughter-in-law Suchitra, their child Neha, my daughter Aabha and their children Akhil and Ahaana yesterday (Monday) night in the US during dinner," a grief-stricken Appu Master, an 80-year-old retired schoolteacher, told from Ayyankollai village in Tamil Nadu. "My family's entire next generation had moved to the US some 15 years ago and were very close to each other till this happened. Only Aabha has survived the firing and the rest of the family including Devarajan, who committed suicide, has been wiped out after he opened fire from two handguns," Master added. Devarajan and Ashokan were two Malayalam-speaking IT professionals, who originally hailed from Ayyankollai in Nilgiri district, over 500 km from state capital Chennai. According to a report in the San Jose Mercury News, an Indian passport was found inside the house, but the identity of the victims had not been revealed by the US police. The suspected shooter, a man in his 40s (now identified as Devarajan) was found dead inside the house, Santa Clara Police Captain Mike Sellers had been quoted as saying. A report in The San Francisco Chronicle had described the shootings as "one of the deadliest such incidents of Santa Clara in recent history".

Neighbour’s view Residents of the upscale community of Rivermark, where the shootings occurred, were horrified and baffled as to why someone would commit such an act. They described their neighborhood as an area where people don't hesitate to leave their garage doors open and where children ride around after school on bicycles and scooters. "I can't imagine someone shooting little children. It's awful," said neighbor Ivy Hopkins, 33, who pushed her two young children Monday in a stroller near the crime scene, which was blocked off with yellow tape. Two handguns were found inside the residence, but police are awaiting the results of ballistics tests before determining whether one or both weapons were used.