Clarification added
Neighbors heard screams and saw a woman run outside of her apartment with blood on her hands.
The woman said her husband had killed their two children and then himself. One neighbor called 911.
Another neighbor gave shelter to the grief-stricken mother after seeing her stand outside in the rain with no apparent place to go later Wednesday night.
A day after the murder-suicide, the Redwood Creek apartment complex in Beaverton was quiet Thursday, with few signs of the murder-suicide except for crime tape outside Unit 11884. A few residents, bundled in coats against the gray morning, walked dogs along the pathways. Others stayed inside, curtains drawn.
Lakalo Kawika Enfield, 36, killed his 6-year-old son Lakalo Vergara Enfield and his 8-year-old daughter Lehua Elaysea Enfield before shooting and killing himself on Wednesday afternoon, Beaverton police said.
The children's mother and the man's wife, Liezl Vergara Enfield, was in the apartment when the shooting occurred about 4:30 p.m., police said. She left the apartment to get help, police said.
That's when neighbor Sabrina Hayes heard screams and saw Liezl Enfield outside the family's unit. Another neighbor was with Enfield.
The neighbor sat Enfield next to Hayes, who tried to comfort her. The neighbor whispered to Hayes what had happened, she said. Hayes saw blood on the mother's hands.
"My heart dropped. Because I have kids," Hayes said.
When another neighbor heard the screams, he thought it was a traffic accident.
"I didn't imagine something like this would happen here," he said. "It was so surreal. Nothing you would expect in a quiet little town like Beaverton."
He asked not to be identified because Liezl Enfield is staying with him until her family arrives from Hawaii. He didn't know her before the shooting, he said, but he and his girlfriend saw her standing outside with no shoes in the rain afterward as she talked with police officers. They invited her in and let her stay the night, he said. A victims advocate with the Beaverton police has been working with Enfield since Wednesday evening, a spokesman said.
The Enfields moved into the apartment in July, he said. He'd never heard them fight, but would often see the two young children ride their bikes around the sprawling apartment complex while their parents watched.
The man and his girlfriend have children around the same age, he said.
"So it hits really hard," he said. "It's about one of the saddest things I have ever seen."
Beaverton police said Thursday that officers had responded to a domestic violence call at the Enfield home last Thursday. Officers responded to a verbal disturbance between the couple, but there were no signs of assault, police said. The husband agreed to leave to stay with a relative, said spokesman Officer Mike Rowe said.
When police got to the apartment on Wednesday, they found Lakalo Kawika Enfield and the two children. They believed all three were dead and backed out to preserve the scene, a spokesman said. As they reached the front door, they heard a single gunshot as the man shot and killed himself. Before that, they believed he was dead because his wounds were so serious.
The children were in first and second grade at Greenway Elementary School, Beaverton school district spokeswoman Maureen Wheeler said. The district has sent up to a dozen counselors to the school, Wheeler said. The children were new to the school this year, she said.
Beaverton detectives are investigating the deaths, along with the Washington County Major Crimes Team.
"They're in our thoughts and in our hearts," Beaverton police spokesman Officer Jeremy Shaw said. "As they grieve, we grieve as a community."
Jennifer Underwood, who lives across the parking lot from the Enfields' apartment, said she plans to take a personal day at home to process what happened.
"It makes me sad for humanity in general," she said.
-- Samantha Matsumoto
Jim Ryan, Everton Bailey Jr., Rebecca Woolington, Noelle Crombie and Tony Hernandez contributed to this report.
Clarification: Additional information was added on Friday, Oct. 7 about Liezl Enfield speaking with police before her neighbors took her in, as well as mental health services she was given afterward, according to her neighbor.