POLK COUNTY, Fla. — The Polk County Sheriff's Office is investigating a murder-suicide of a couple on Thursday.

Officials said deputies responded to a resident in the Poinciana area of Kissimmee early Thursday morning. Deputies learned that a man there had shot and killed his girlfriend and refused to exit the home.

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Family of the 33-year-old victim had not been able to make contact with her or her boyfriend 38-year-old Jason Comas.

The victim's parents went to the couple's home near Lake Marion Creek Road and Cedar Road around 12:50 a.m. to see if they could make contact with the victim in person.

Comas saw them pull up to the house and called the victim's mother on the phone. He told her to wait outside for a couple of minutes before coming inside the home, and let two young children out of the house. The mother removed both of the children, but did not see her daughter.

At around 12:53 a.m., deputies were dispatched to the home in reference to Comas having a gun and he was threatening to harm himself.

When deputies arrived, they were able to communicate with Jason through the door. That is when he told them he shot and killed his girlfriend.

Comas also told deputies that he was a former police officer in Puerto Rico, so he would not harm them. He said, however, if they entered his home, he would kill himself.

The Polk County SWAT team responded and handled the matter as a hostage situation. Over the next few hours, SWAT members tried to convince Comas to surrender peacefully.

At around 8:30 a.m., SWAT breached the exterior wall which allowed deputies to see that Comas was dead after a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

“At this time, it is unknown how long the victim has been dead. What I can tell you now is that this was a tragic and evil thing that occurred here overnight, and our hearts ache for the family, and those young girls,” said Sheriff Grady Judd.

This is still an ongoing investigation.