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A man murdered his four kids at home in Michigan. REUTERS/Fred Greaves

Michigan police arrested a father Wednesday who allegedly murdered his four children in their family home. The man, whose name was not made public, injured his wife and attacked and killed all four kids, ABC affiliate WXYZ reported.

The man called Dearborn Heights police at about 1:20 a.m. to confess he had murdered his family. The man was sitting on his front porch when police later arrived at the home.

“It stemmed from a domestic violence type situation,” Dearborn Heights police Capt. Michael Petri said. “We do have the suspected defender in custody so there is no concern for the neighbors.”

The man fatally shot the oldest children while the youngest children were found to have died from carbon monoxide poisoning. According to the local news outlet, the father allegedly used car exhaust fumes to kill his six-year-old and four-year-old before placing them back in their beds.

The oldest victims, Kara Allen, 17, and Chadney Allen, 19, were the man's stepchildren, Reuters reported. They were shot execution style in the basement of the home.

Lt. Michael Krause said the wife and mother of the children was “shot and she was stabbed also,” Detroit CBS Local news reported. The woman, identified as Faith Green, was admitted to a local hospital in critical condition.

“We don’t have a lot of instances like this … it is a very tragic situation,” Dearborn Heights Mayor Dan Paletko told WXYZ of the small city in the Detroit metropolitan area. “Words can’t explain what took place here.”

The father had a history of domestic violence and pleaded no contest to second-degree murder in 1992. He served 16 years in prison before he was released from parole in April 2010.

Neighbors in the community described the family as quiet.

"Just two or three weeks ago, they had a birthday party, balloons and all that stuff out there," said neighbor Ronnie Jones. "They've been working on the house the last two or three months, added doors...garage door they added a bunch of stuff to the house."