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Latest news:
They're arrested a couple of cousins in this case. But apparently the scene was hideous according to the cops when they arrived.
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BALTIMORE, Maryland (AP) -- Two people were arrested in the deaths of three children found dead in a Baltimore apartment, a source said Friday.
A boy, his sister and their male cousin were found by one of their mothers when she returned to the apartment late Thursday afternoon. One child was beheaded, the other two partially beheaded.
The source who reported the arrests spoke on condition of anonymity.
Further details were not immediately available. Police planned to hold a news conference to announce what they described as a "major development" in the case.
"I've been around for 35 years and I've seen, unfortunately, my share of murders, but I've never seen something as bad as this," Deputy Police Commissioner Kenneth Blackwell said earlier.
Homicide detectives had stopped an unidentified "person of interest" in connection with the crime late Thursday.
The children had returned home from school about 3:30 p.m., Blackwell said. A weapon was found outside the apartment.
The woman who found the children, who speaks Spanish and little English, notified a neighbor when she made the discovery two hours later. Police recorded a 911 call they said was probably made by a neighbor translating for the mother.
"There's blood all over my apartment," a woman said in the 911 call. "They've killed my family!"
The first officer on the scene "couldn't handle it" and had to give the call to another officer, Blackwell said. "Walking in on a scene, seeing children of that tender age in that condition, certainly breaks your heart."
Parents and teachers at the children's school, Cross Country Elementary, hugged each other Friday morning and cried. Officials said grief counselors would be on hand to help the 700 students.
The mother gave police information about where to find the man who was questioned, Blackwell said. Officers stopped him a few blocks from the crime scene.
Blackwell said the man's relationship to the children, if any, was not known but he was an acquaintance of the mother.
Al Johnson, who lives in the apartment complex, said she heard the mother screaming.
"They were very nice, cordial kids," Johnson said. "It's such a shock to everyone. "It's a very quiet, peaceful community."
The art deco apartment complex is on the edge of a neighborhood of well-tended homes. It is largely Orthodox Jewish, with a mix of white, black and Hispanic residents.
Matt Teichman, 17, a student at Talmudical Academy, was returning home from prayers when he heard the sirens and saw police.
"We walk here late at night and we usually feel safe," he said. "Now, I don't know what to feel. I can't really believe it."
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