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'Hard To Understand': Neighbors Seek Closure, Answers After Woman Allegedly Kills 2 Young Daughters, Their Father

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Neighbors are shaken after a woman allegedly killed her two young daughters and their father, before trying to kill herself. The victims were found inside their Tacony home on Monday night, after neighbors reported hearing gunshots.

A pink tricycle lays on the ground outside of a home on the 6300 block of Hegerman Street where, Philadelphia police say, two young sisters -- a 4-year-old and a 10-month-old -- were both shot and killed, allegedly at the hands of their own mother. The children's 35-year-old father was also shot and killed.

Police say 28-year-old Damyrra Jones admitted to the killings Tuesday. Police say the gun used was purchased legally hours before the shootings.

Neighbors say the family kept to themselves, and the mother and children only lived in the neighborhood for a little more than a year.

Anachelys Martinez  lives next door to where police say Jones killed her two daughters and estranged husband.

"I was very hesitant on calling the police but my instincts said do it after I heard multiple gunshots continuing," Martinez said. "Then I heard people trying to get away but then falling and to me that was the kids trying to get away. It was so scary."

"It's sad, it's sad," one neighbor said.

Neighbors called police around 10 p.m. after hearing gunshots.

Police say the 28-year-old mother is in critical condition after surviving her own alleged self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Her 4-year-old daughter died shortly after the shooting and her 10-moth-old daughter died at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children overnight.

"It's never easy seeing a child with a gunshot wound. The officers that responded blocked every intersection, doing everything they could and every effort to help save their lives," acting Philadelphia Police Commissioner Christine Coulter said.

Family members came to the scene Tuesday morning but Eyewitness News was told no one wanted to talk.

Neighbors say the adults mainly kept to themselves but the kids all played together. One neighbor shared her past brief experiences with the family.

"If it's the little girl I'm thinking of, then yes, she played with my children and was very respectful. I knocked on the door one time. The mother signed a paper for a block party and she was very nice," the neighbor said.

Many are searching for closure and answers.

"It's really hard to when you're a mother around five children. It's kind of hard to understand what happened to her, what was going through her mind because you don't know what someone is going through," a woman said.

There is no word from investigators yet on what sparked the domestic dispute.

Police say if Jones survives she'll be facing murder and other charges.

CBS3's Chantee Lans and Howard Monroe contributed to this report.

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