FOLEY, Mo. -- A rural Missouri man killed his wife and her father before fatally shooting himself, authorities said.

Four children were in the home at the time of the incident but were unharmed.

The shooting happened around 8:15 p.m. Wednesday near Foley, a town of 160 residents about 50 miles northwest of St. Louis, authorities said. Lincoln County deputies responding to a call from one of the children found a woman and two men with gunshot wounds.

The Lincoln County Sheriff's Department said in a news release that Lauren Jennings Foland, 38, and her father, Scott Preston Causey, 72, were pronounced dead at the scene. The suspected shooter, Phillip Lee Foland, 56, was flown to a hospital, where he later died.

The sheriff's department said Phillip Lee Foland was the husband of Lauren Jennings Foland and the father of the four children, who are now in protective custody.

An investigation into what led to the shooting is ongoing, the sheriff's department said.