CARTERSVILLE -- Bartow County law enforcement authorities on Tuesday were investigating the deaths of a man and a woman who were found dead Monday evening in what authorities said was a murder-suicide.

Alma Camancho, 29, and Hecktor Pineda, 33, were pronounced dead at the scene after police were called to the Etowah Village Apartments, located in the 300 block of Old Mill Road, shortly before 5 p.m.

Police were called to the complex to investigate reports of gunfire when they found the bodies in the outside stairwell of the apartment building.

A handgun was found near the bodies, and police said it appears that Pineda fatally shot Camancho before turning the weapon on himself. A motive for the shooting was not clear.

The victims had two children together, ages 11 and 7, Cartersville police Capt. Michael Stewart, a department spokesman, said. He did not know if the two were married. The children had been staying with family members.

A witness said the shooting apparently happened in front of the two youngsters, who were found at the scene when law enforcement officers arrived.

Witnesses said they heard a woman scream and then the sound of two bullets being fired.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation was called in to aid in the investigation.

Channel 2 Action News reporter Richard Elliot contributed to this report.