Alabama father 'shoots dead his wife and four children under the age of 10' at pastor's home after kid's birthday party

A deranged dad allegedly shot dead his wife, their two kids, and his young niece and nephew minutes after one of the children's birthday party.

Brandon Allan Kendrick, 32, faces five counts of capital murder after the mass shooting at his pastor grandfather Allan's property in rural Alabama.

His wife Kelse Kendrick, 24, was found dead alongside their son Kaleb, 6, and Kynli, 2, and their cousins Colton, 8, and Haley Daniels, 6, on Thursday night.

Kelse and her side of the family were celebrating Colton's ninth birthday, but she returned about 7pm after Kendrick demanded she come home.

All five were shot in the head and found dead at the scene, other than Haley, who was still breathing and rushed to hospital, but did not survive.

Kendrick allegedly gunned down his family at the garage apartment they lived in on Allan Kendrick's property in West Blocton, about 40 miles south of Birmingham.

Allan is the pastor of Oasis of Praise Church in nearby Bessemer, and called 911 about 8.18pm on Thursday after finding the bodies.

Kelse's uncle Eli Morrow and his wife Brittany said the party was held at family patriarch Bill Morrow's house ahead of Colton's birthday on Tuersday.

Kendrick was at not at the party because his schizophrenic episodes had worsened over the previous two weeks.

'All of the children were supposed to spend the night at [Bill's] home,' Brittany told DailyMail.com.

'Brandon repeatedly begged and pleaded with her to come home and she gave in… within an hour they were all shot in the head.'

Brittany explained that Colton and Haley's mother Jessica Morrow, 35, was having major surgery the next morning, so there was no option but to send them with Kelse.

'We live 45 minutes away. I wish to God they had asked us to take them for the night,' she said.

'What we are struggling with the most, is that it was a last-minute decision to take them over there, it was never in the plan because they knew he had been acting crazy.'

Kelse's car was broken down so Jessica dropped all five of them off at home on Green Tree Drive about 7pm.

Police rushed to the scene and arrested Kendrick after discovering the bodies, Bibb County Sheriff Jody Wade said.

'It's absolutely horrible. It's unimaginable what the family is going through, what the friends of the family are experiencing, what the community is feeling right now,' he said. 

'It was just a horrific scene that even seasoned officers told me it is the worst thing they've ever seen.

'As officers are going, they are saying there are more children that have been shot.' 

Wade said Kendrick was yet to tell police why he did it, but 'I don’t know what motive he could give us that would justify what he did anyway'. 

Kendrick was booked into the Bibb County Jail about 3.30am and denied bail.

He is charged with four counts of capital murder of a child under 14, and one count of capital murder in the killing of two or more people in one act.