6 shot, 5 fatally, at Dallas home

DALLAS, Texas (CNN) -- A man shot six family members at a Dallas house Sunday evening, police said, killing five of them, including his wife and two daughters.

The suspect, whose name was not released, was caught a short distance away as he was fleeing in his car, Senior Cpl. Mary Baker of the Dallas Police Department said. An automatic weapon was used in the shootings.

CNN NewsPass VIDEO Five people, including three children, were shot dead at a house in Dallas, Texas. A sixth person was shot but survived. KDAF's Heather Behrens reports (August 5) Play video

"Someone who was there close to the residence did witness the suspect leaving the location," Baker said. "They heard the shots and then they saw him leaving."

A police source identified the dead as the man's wife, 32, and their 7-year-old and nearly 10-month-old daughters. Also killed was the woman's father and a 20-year-woman identified as an in-law.

Surviving the attack was a 27-year-old woman -- also identified as an in-law. She was hospitalized in critical condition.

"I've talked to some of the neighbors that live out here that heard the shots and they said it sounded like a string of fireworks going off," Sgt. Gary Kirkpatrick of the Dallas Police Department said. "It was repeatedly one shot after another ... and then multiple shots again."

The shootings happened at 6:15 p.m. in Oak Cliff, in south Dallas. The motive was unclear, Baker said.