Five people were shot and killed in an apparent murder-suicide at a residence in Douglas, Georgia, on Friday, authorities said. The deceased were family members who lived at the home in the south Georgia city.

Officers responded to reports of an active shooter later on Friday, Douglas police chief Brannen Pruette said at a Saturday news conference. One of the victims placed the initial emergency call - a detail that manages to be both heroic and devastating in equal measure.

Responding officers found four deceased adults inside the home. A fifth individual was transported to a hospital, where they were later pronounced dead.

Details around how the tragedy unfolded remain unclear, including who opened fire. Police did not offer additional information, citing the ongoing investigation - which is standard procedure and also conveniently leaves the public to fill in the blanks with speculation, the thing officials explicitly asked them not to do.

Hours before the deadly shooting, a female victim called police to complain that her husband was "killing her" with his smoking. EMS transported her to a local medical center. It is not clear whether that call and the shooting are connected, but the timeline is doing some heavy lifting on its own.

"We recognize the profound impact this loss has on those closest to the victims in our community. We ask everyone to respect the privacy of the family and allow them the time and space they need to grieve," Pruette said.

Charlie Davis, the Douglas city manager, noted that this was the area's second murder-suicide incident in three months. "Domestic violence doesn't know race. It doesn't know religion. It doesn't know geographic location," Davis said. "We encourage everyone to refrain from speculation and allow the family the space, dignity and compassion they deserve during this time."

In a similar episode of violence, a man in Pennsylvania fatally shot several family members on Friday before killing himself. Two states, two family tragedies, one day. The kind of coincidence that stops feeling like a coincidence and starts feeling like a pattern.