Four people found dead at house in Horden - source: BBC news

Four people have been found dead after a shooting at a house in Horden, near Peterlee, County Durham late on Sunday.

The bodies of a 42-year-old man and three woman were discovered at the house in Greenside Avenue. A shotgun was found next to the man's body.Police said three other people in the house managed to escape. A woman, 19, was treated for gunshot wounds.It also emerged the 40-year-old man, named locally as Michael Atherton, was licensed to own six firearms.

The house is the subject of a detailed forensic operation

Police said they were treating the incident as a murder inquiry and were not looking for anyone else. All four dead people were related to each other.Firearms officers attended the scene after a caller reported that a number of people had been shot inside a semi-detached house.The victims' bodies were found in different rooms  in the downstairs of the house, and paramedics confirmed all four were dead at the scene.The area has been cordoned off since shortly after midnight and a forensic investigation is under way.
An incident room has been set up at police headquarters in Durham.

Assistant Chief Constable Michael Banks gives details of the shootings

Det Supt Paul Goundry, who is leading the investigation, said all the deceased were related and that the Durham force had had "minor contact" with the family in the pas