MERCED, Calif.?A retired sheriff’s deputy shot and killed his 5-year-old daughter and his three stepchildren Tuesday, before committing suicide with the body of one of the youngsters in his arms.

John Hogan, 49, had apparently entered the house after his wife had set out on her morning walk, authorities said.

The motive was unclear.

Christine McFadden returned from her walk shortly after 7 a.m. and found her 17-year-old daughter dead in the hallway outside her bedroom, said sheriff’s Sgt. Tom Cavallero.

McFadden went to a neighbor’s house in the well-to do neighborhood to call police, then returned home with deputies and found the three other children and Hogan in separate bedrooms, all shot to death, Cavallero said.

Hogan served as a deputy from 1983 to 1993 before retiring for undisclosed medical reasons, the sheriff’s department said.