A Texas father fatally shot his two teenage daughters before turning the gun on himself in an apparent double murder-suicide, authorities have said.

Officers from the Mesquite Police Department responded to a home in the 1300 block of Bradford Place at around 10:25pm on Tuesday night to reports of gunshots heard.

When police arrived at the residence, they found 63-year-old Raymond Haydel lying on the floor inside the home, with a gunshot wound to his head.

As they continued their search of the property, they found the bodies of Natasha Haydel, 17, and her younger sister Alexa, 16, who both had suffered multiple gunshot wounds. They were dead at the scene, police said.

Investigators believe Haydel shot both of his children, and then committed suicide. Detectives are still working to establish a motive for the double murder-suicide.

Police say it appears Haydel and the girls’ mother, Michelle Chapman, 42, were no longer together. Natasha and Alexa lived permanently with Chapman in Forney and had been visiting their father in Mesquite when the fatal incident occurred.

Legal documents observed  show that Haydel and Chapman filed for divorce in 2012. Chapman remarried three-years later.

Wes Hardin, who is the father of one of the girls’ boyfriends, voiced his shock that Haydel was capable of committing such a cruel act of violence against his own daughters.

‘We know what we need to know and sometimes things happen that you don’t want to put a reason on,’ Harden told. ‘Of course we are angry but we know the girls would want us to celebrate their life… the outpouring of support from the kids is amazing.’

Darion and Lindsay Daily, who live two doors down from the scene of the shooting, told how they watched through the night as investigators processed the crime scene.

‘It was blocked off, and they had it taped all off so we really couldn’t see nothing,’ Darion said.

‘It was shocking to hear what transpired,’ added Lindsay.

Darion said he spoke to the first officer on the scene: ‘He was like, “I’m the one that had to kick the door in and see that.” And it was too late,’ Darion recalled.

Natasha had just graduated from Forney High School just 10 days before the fatal shooting occurred. Alexa was a sophomore at the school, and both of the girls played in the school’s band.

The Forney Independent School District released a statement Wednesday, mourning the sisters’ deaths.

‘Yesterday, we learned of the tragic loss of two of our Forney High School students, and our hearts are broken,’ the statement said. ‘We extend condolences to Natasha and Alexa Haydel’s family and to our Forney Family.’

Forney High School is also offering online visits with grief counselors to classmates of the two girls.

Tributes to the two girls have flooded onto social media, remembering them both as ‘Bright, beautiful and talented’.

‘I am truly heartbroken by this loss,’ Sheri Jones wrote on Facebook. ‘Natasha was one of the student aides that I got to work with…Her creative nature inspired many story times. And her ideas brighten the days of so many little ones. The world lost two beautiful souls.’

Riley Warren, the percussion director at Forney High School, wrote: ‘Please keep the mother of these girls in your prayers as the Forney community heals from the tragic loss of two incredibly bright and talented young people. I’m at a loss for words…’

A GoFundMe set up by the Hardin family to help cover funeral costs for the two girls had reached $24,430 in donations towards its $25,000 goal as of Thursday evening.

‘Natasha is and always will be my best friend,’ Gwen Keem commented in one donation. ‘She was loved by me and my whole family. I was with her the morning before and I’m forever heartbroken.’

‘Natasha and Alexa Haydel were taken from this world too soon,’ added Shannon Hardin, who organized the fundraiser.