SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) – A father killed his two young children and himself by setting his car on fire in the parking lot of his estranged girlfriend’s workplace Monday, police said.
Hipolito Ortiz, 37, likely used an accelerant such as gasoline to set the car ablaze in an industrial park next to a child day care center in Springfield just before 9:30 a.m., police said. Inside the car, the bodies of two children were burned beyond recognition.
But police have tentatively identified them as Ortiz’s son and daughter, 2-year-old Adrian Ortiz and 6-year-old Genesis Ortiz. The children’s mother, whose name was not released, was at work inside Harvey Industries when firefighters responded to a 911 call reporting the fire.
Police Capt. Robert Cheetham described Ortiz and the mother as estranged for the past month. Ortiz, however, drove the woman to work, dropped her off at 7 a.m., and said he planned to spend the day with their two children.
“What transpired between the drop off and the murder-suicide, I have no idea,” Cheetham said. He called the burned crime scene was “as bad as it gets.”
Police Commissioner Edward Flynn gave little indication as to what may have led to the deaths.
“We’re going to try to avoid going too much into their domestic relationship right now except to make it clear that we don’t have any records of any restraining orders or complaints being sought at this time,” he said.
Flynn said it appeared that the children were alive when Ortiz set the blaze inside his leased 2001 Dodge Strata, but said it will be up to a medical examiner to determine the exact cause of death.
The children’s mother was distraught upon learning what happened, and was brought to a local emergency room, said Dennis Leger, a spokesman for the fire department.
“We are not doing too good,” Luis Citron, who said he is the woman’s brother, told reporters outside Harvey Industries. “I come here because I want to see if it’s true. I can’t believe – I still can’t believe it.”
Waltham-based Harvey Industries manufactures doors and window frames and operates a warehouse in Springfield. The company said in a statement: “We are surprised and saddened by the events that occurred in the parking lot of our Springfield manufacturing facility earlier today.”
The company offered grief counseling to its employees.
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