MONROE TOWNSHIP, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio man accused of fatally shooting his three young sons and wounding their mother at the family’s home has been charged with aggravated murder, authorities said.

Deputies responded to the home in Monroe Township shortly before 4:30 pm Thursday after receiving a pair of 911 calls, one apparently from the mother who was screaming that “her babies had been shot” and another from a passing motorist who said a girl was running down the street saying her father was killing people, a news release from the Clermont County Sheriff’s Office said.

The deputies found three boys, ages 3, 4 and 7, outside the home with gunshot wounds and tried to save their lives, but the children died at the scene. Their names have not been released.

The sheriff’s office said the 34-year-old mother, who was not identified, was outside the home and had suffered a gunshot to the hand. She was transported to a hospital with injuries that did not appear to be life-threatening.

Chad Doerman, 32, was found sitting on a stoop at the family home and was taken into custody without incident. He was being held in the county jail and was due to be arraigned Friday on three counts of aggravated murder.

Monroe Township is about 75 miles (120 kilometers) west of Columbus.

Neighbours reported hearing several shots fired in what they said is usually a quiet, calm neighbourhood.

“I was sitting in the garage, and all of a sudden, I hear ‘boom, boom’ and like five more, and I was like, ‘That’s seven shots,’” Alexis Spoonamore told WLWT-TV in Cincinnati. “I’m shaking. It was a lot. It was bad.”