Police: Man kills daughter, self; estranged wife, son hurt

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - The father of a southern Indiana man who police say shot his two children, killing his 3-year-old daughter, after stabbing their mother said Wednesday the family is mystified by the attacks.

State Police said Jeremy Gehl, 37, got into a fight late Tuesday afternoon with his 33-year-old wife, Melissa Randolph, at the home in Paoli they shared even though they were estranged.

Sgt. Phillip Hensley said that when Gehl stabbed Randolph several times, the couple's two children - hearing the altercation - came downstairs. He said Gehl then opened fire with a handgun on his children before taking his own life, in the home about 40 miles south of Bloomington.

"They were fighting, kids come downstairs and he basically just shoots them in front of her and then shoots himself," Hensley said. "It's completely hard as a human being to wrap your mind around it."

Addison Gehl, 3, was pronounced dead at Kosair Children's Hospital in Louisville, Kentucky, where her 6-year-old brother, Leon Gehl, was listed in critical condition Wednesday.

Jeremy Gehl's father, Herman Gehl, said Wednesday his family is both devastated and mystified.

"We have no idea why this even happened. We're just numb. I just know that my granddaughter's gone," he said. "I just don't know what to say. We've had a terrible loss."

After the shootings, Hensley said Randolph, who suffered non-life-threatening stab wounds, ran outside her home in a residential area of the Orange County town and cried out for help until a neighbor heard her screams and called 911, Hensley said.

A 1-year-old child was also in the home when the shootings occurred but was not harmed. Hensley said that youngster is Randolph's child but Gehl was not the child's father.

He said the altercation prior to Tuesday's shootings stemmed from "family-related matters" and police are still investigating.

In November 2010, Jeremy Gehl shot and killed Billy Joe Bledsoe in Bledsoe's home in Orleans as Gehl's brother was trying to visit his child at that home, The (Bedford) Times-Mail reported. Orange County prosecutors ruled Gehl shot Bledsoe in self-defense after Bledsoe pointed a shotgun at his brother and he was "justified in using deadly force," the newspaper reported.