OAKLAND — Two women and a man were shot to death inside a house in central Maine, and the gunman’s body was found outside, police said Thursday as they searched for a motive. A 4-year-old girl was found unharmed.

Officials received a number of 911 calls reporting a shooting at a home in Oakland at about 8 p.m. Wednesday, Department of Public Safety spokesman Steve McCausland said. He said one of the calls came from one of the women who had been shot and later died.

Jason Thomas, a next-door neighbor, said he heard two gunshots and called 911. He then heard a man yell, “I told you this was going to happen!” He said he then heard a woman pleading, “Please don’t, please don’t.”

Then he heard two more shots and police arrived. At some point, he called Amanda Bragg, one of the women who lived in the house. She answered.

“I said, ‘Are you OK?’ She said: ‘No, I can’t move. Can you please help me?'” Thomas said.

Police said Bragg, 30, died, as well as 29-year-old Michael Muzerolle and 28-year-old Amy Derosby. The gunman, identified as 42-year-old Herman Derico, was found on the driveway with a gun next to him.

Police said Bragg and Muzerolle were the parents of the 4-year-old girl, who was turned over to relatives.

They all shared the brown clapboard home, which was divided into two apartments, McCausland said.

Neighbors said Derico and Derosby lived upstairs and Bragg and Muzerolle lived downstairs. Thomas said Bragg and Derosby were sisters.

McCausland said detectives will talk to family and friends to try to understand what happened.

“The main focus is on why this violence took place. At this point in the investigation, we don’t have an answer,” he said.

Chris Perry, another neighbor who heard the shots as he was pulling into his driveway, said Muzerolle recently helped him put up a weather vane on his house.

“I just feel bad about them,” he said. “I feel bad for the little girl, she’s a cute little girl.”

Associated Press photographer Robert F. Bukaty contributed to this report.

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