Aiken murder-suicide claims four family members, including shooter and injures one

Aiken County authorities are investigating a murder-suicide that has left four dead in a Silver Bluff Road apartment complex early Friday.

According to Aiken County Coroner Darryl Ables, a family of four died at the scene. The four included the alleged shooter, who took his own life, Ables said.

Ables released the family members' names Friday afternoon. They are John Fitzgerald Seward Sr., 55, Mary Ann Powlas, 50, Erica Nicole Seward, 27, and Johnathan Andrew Seward, 19.

Johnathan Seward was identified as the shooter and died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Ables said. 

Seward Sr. and Powlas are the parents of Erica and Johnathan, and the family had lived at the apartment for several years, he said.

The preliminary cause of the deaths is gunshot wounds but the bodies will be taken for autopsies, he said.

Aiken Public Safety identified two other surviving victims in the incident. One was hospitalized and the other was not injured, according to Ables.

Aiken Public Safety said in a statement the department believes no suspects remain at large in the incident.