2 children found dead in Valley home

SURPRISE, Ariz. (AP) — A father and his two children were found dead at a residence in Surprise on Monday in what appeared to be a murder-suicide incident, police said.

Brock Mater, 34, and his two children, a 7-year-old boy and a 6-year-old girl, were found dead from gunshot wounds after police officers conducted a welfare check near Bell and Litchfield streets. A rifle was found on the father’s lap, police said.

The children’s mother called the police after the boy and girl failed to show up for school that day. The children visited their father while their parents divorced.

When the mother passed her father’s house and no one opened the door, she called the police.

Police said Mater was receiving psychiatric treatment.

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