Masked invaders kill couple, spare 5 children

WTSP-TV, Tampa, Fla.

Show Caption Hide Caption Police: 5 kids home during attack that killed parents Two people are dead after multiple masked men entered a Florida home. Those attackers then shot and killed the couple who appear to be the parents of five children who were also in the home at the time.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Masked men stormed a home across from an elementary school Thursday morning and killed two people, sparing five children who were home at the time, police said.

The victims are Kantral Brooks and Esther Deneus, both 29, who were not married but apparently living together with the children as a family, police said. The suspects remain at large.

Bradenton Police Chief Mike Radzilowski said the children were running around inside the house on Southern Parkway West when police responded at about 3:50 a.m. Thursday, after the home's alarm system went off.

Police said four or five men broke through glass windows on the double front doors and shot the couple. Brooks' body was just inside the front door when police arrived, Radzilowski said, and Deneus' body lay nearby.

The children, ranging in age from 1 to 11 years old, are in the custody of other family members. It was unclear how much of the crime the children witnessed.

Police spokesman Lt. James Racky said police were investigating video from a security camera that watches the front of the house.

The home is across the street from the Robert H. Prine Elementary School. A summer camp planned at the school Thursday was scheduled to continue.