Residents of a Somerset village have been left shocked after a mother and daughter were shot dead outside their home.

The bodies of the two are to be formally identified on Thursday.

Kaeren Adkins and her six-year-old daughter, Torie, were shot in a cul-de-sac in Horton, near Ilminster.

The body of a man in his 50s - named locally as Peter O'Hare - was found nearby.

I thought this is not play, this is for real and I went and called the police

Anne Tyler, neighbour

The two are believed to have been shot dead as they tried to get into a car in Broadoak, a side road off Goose Lane.

Anne Tyler, a neighbour of 37-year-old Ms Adkins, said she had witnessed the immediate aftermath of the shooting at 1815 BST on Tuesday.

"I heard two bangs," she said.

"I did not realise what it was - I thought the children were just playing.

"I then heard shouting and I heard the children screaming.

"When I came to the window he was stood by the car, on the passenger side.

"There was another shot and the children were running away.

Neighbour Anne Tyler heard children screaming

"He drew back with the gun in his right hand and he just hit the woman across the head with his left hand, and turned around with such an awful look of rage and despair in his face.

"I presumed she was already dead.

"I thought this is not play, this is for real and I went and called the police.

"I understand he went into the garden just behind our house and committed suicide.

"I did not see Torie. She was on the ground on the other side of the car and was still alive."

Mrs Tyler said that although she did not see the man shoot Ms Adkins, she believed from what she witnessed that he had shot her through the window of the front passenger door.

She said other neighbours had told her that before the shots were fired, Kaeren had run out of the house and stopped another car saying, "He has got a gun".

She said the man appeared to be carrying a hunting rifle.

Another resident said he knew the six-year-old girl.

"She was a beautiful little blonde-haired girl. You could not ask for a sweeter child.

"They had not been here long, they were just settling in."

Ms Adkins was due to begin a landscape gardening course at Cannington College near Bridgwater in October.

In a statement, the college expressed its sympathy to family and friends.

"Kaeren seemed to be a friendly person, honest and reliable and always ready to help," said Andrea Kinkade, the college's marketing manager.

Vital signs

Avon and Somerset police were unable to confirm reports that Mr O'Hare was Ms Adkins' former partner although they did confirm that he was known to her.

Detective Chief Inspector Trevor Margenout said the body of the dead woman was found in the passenger seat of a car that did not belong to her.

When paramedics arrived at the scene, they found the body of the little girl lying in the road beside the car, still showing signs of life.

Post-mortem examinations took place on the bodies at a hospital in Bristol on Wednesday.