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Three young boys who were brothers and students at LA Unified were found stabbed to death inside an SUV in south Los Angeles today. A man believed to be their father was taken to a hospital suffering from critical stab wounds, and police reported that a man was in custody on suspicion of committing the attacks.

Los Angeles Police Department Chief Charlie Beck described the scene on the 300 block of East 32nd Street as a “gruesome sight,” according to the Los Angeles Times. The car with the bodies inside was discovered around 7 a.m. across the street from Dolores Huerta Elementary School, although that is not where the boys attended school, police said.

The victims reportedly ranged in age from 8 to12 years old; their names have not been publicly released.

“We believe him to be the father of the kids, but we do not know that for a fact,” Beck said of the wounded man, according to City News Service. “The biological mother of the children we believe to be deceased. We believe there is a stepmother and she is safe.”

“These are horrific incidents,” Beck added. “These are incidents that scar not only a community but the first responders who have to handle them. It is a sad day in Los Angeles, made only slightly better by the fact that we have a probable suspect in custody.”

The car the boys were found in was registered to a home in the 4200 block of Woodlawn Avenue, ABC7 reported.