Seven Shot Dead in Fort Worth Christmas Morning Massacre

(The Blaze/AP) Seven people believed to be related had opened their Christmas gifts and started cleaning up the wrapping paper when they were shot to death in a suburban Fort Worth apartment, police said Sunday.

Authorities said they believe the shooter is among the dead.

Four women and three men, aged 18 to 60, were found in an adjoining kitchen and living room area when police entered the apartment around midday, said Grapevine Police Sgt. Robert Eberling. Two handguns were found near the bodies in the apartment that was decorated for the holiday with a tree, he added.

"It appears they had just celebrated Christmas. They had opened their gifts," Eberling said.

The Dallas Morning News reports that officiers responded to a 911 call at about 11 a.m. when they discovered the seven bodies in the middle-class neighborhood. The call had come from the apartment, but no one was on the line when the 911 operator answered.

The victims have not yet been identified, but Eberling said it appears they all died of gunshot wounds. He said authorities still don't know what sparked the incident.

"There was an open line. No one was saying anything," he explained.

So police went into the apartment, located in suburban neighborhood of Grapevine, not far from the upscale Fort Worth neighborhood of Colleyville. The apartment is at the back of the complex, overlooking the athletic fields of Colleyville Heritage High School.

But many of the nearby apartments are vacant, and police said no neighbors reported hearing anything on a quiet Christmas morning when many people were not around.

Christy Posch, a flight attendant who moved to the complex about six months ago so her son could attend the high school, said she lives a few buildings away and did not hear any gunshots.

"It's all families. That's why I moved here. No burglaries, no nothing," Posch said.

Dallas Morning News video from the scene: