Honolulu police said a Manoa man fatally stabbed his wife and their three children in their home Sunday morning before killing himself in Hawaii’s worst mass homicide since the Xerox shooting in 1999 when seven people were gunned down at a Nimitz Highway business.

The deceased included a 46-year-old man, a 48-year-old woman, a 17-year-old girl, a 12-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl.

Lt. Deena Thoemmes, head of HPD’s homicide detail, said during a Sunday afternoon news conference that the couple appeared to be husband and wife and the juveniles were their children. All of the deceased were stabbed to death, police said.

“Based on the evidence found at the scene and the investigation thus far, it appears that the adult male killed the female and the juveniles with a knife that was recovered from the scene,” she said.

The Honolulu Medical Examiner’s Office said the identities were pending release.

Honolulu property records show the home where the incident took place, 3622 Waaloa Place, belonged to Paris and Naoko Oda.

The home sits on a quiet street, where neighbors say people respect each other’s privacy but are there to help. Neighbors said the family, whose oldest daughter was about 9 when they moved into the neighborhood, were a good fit. They were mostly quiet, too — except on some occasions, when the kids played outside and sounds of happiness filled the street.

They described the neighborhood as safe and said that was something the family liked about it, too.

Neighbors said they didn’t hear anything suspicious Saturday night, but there were high winds that may have muted the sound. Their first inkling that something was off was on Sunday morning when they saw yellow caution tape and police and medical examiner vehicles parked up and down the street. They wondered what had happened and why.

Thoemmes said, “The motive is still under investigation. I don’t know if it was domestic violence. We haven’t had a history when we checked.”

She said that police went to the home after “a witness reported hearing an argument earlier in the morning.”

Thoemmes said police were initially called to the scene at 8:30 a.m. Sunday but left because the call had come from an “anonymous caller, and there was no one to meet them.”

HPD officers returned to the home after 9 a.m. when a second call was placed.

Honolulu Police Chief Arthur “Joe” Logan, who was at the scene and at the afternoon news conference, said: “We just can’t go into somebody’s home without enough information to provide the exigent circumstances that allows us to do that.

“In this case it appears that what the officers did initially was to knock on the door, find out what’s going on, if anybody answered the door, and that’s all the information they had — so really, they don’t have really enough information to make entry into the dwelling.”

Logan said police attempted to find out the identity of the anonymous caller, and were able to enter the dwelling after “that individual was able to make contact with HPD and then make contact with our officers in person, where we could figure out more information.”

Logan said he went to the Manoa scene but didn’t enter the home. He said he went there to mostly provide comfort and moral support to the officers.

“It’s one of these things that doesn’t normally happen in Hawaii. … It was in 1999 the last time … the Xerox shooting where seven were killed. That is traumatic, I know, as a young officer in that period of time and then today in this.

“I feel for those officers and what they will see really and understand within their mental faculties for the rest of their lives,” he said.” This will have an impact on them, as it would any officer, for the rest of their lives.”

Mayor Rick Blangiardi said in statement, “I am heartbroken by the tragic incident that occurred early this morning in the peaceful Manoa neighborhood, claiming the lives of an entire family, including three precious children. This inexplicable tragedy has deeply shaken our community. Our heartfelt thoughts and prayers go out to the families and friends grappling with this profound loss. Let us stand together in support and solidarity during this difficult time.”

The Manoa killings are among the most violent crimes in Hawaii history. However, they follow a string of unrelated fatalities following violent arguments in Honolulu, including a shooting at an illegal game room that started before 5:30 a.m. Sunday.

Two men were shot at an illegal game room in Liliha early Sunday after they overpowered one gunman who had entered the building, but could not fend off the rest of his crew, police said. One of about four alleged assailants was arrested Sunday, but the others were unidentified and at large, police said late Sunday afternoon.

In February, 63-year-old Yaohua Yan in Kakaako was stabbed to death after meeting a man on a social media application and then at his apartment. Prosecutors have charged Jesse Lewis Nielsen, 30, with second- degree murder.

Cranston Pia, the 39-year-old owner of Ohikilolo Ranch, was shot and killed Feb. 17 during a dispute over a calf he was raising. He had been on his way to celebrate his anniversary with his wife. HPD arrested a 17-year-old boy in connection with the Makaha murder investigation.

HPD also arrested a 41-year-old suspect in a fatal stabbing on Makaloa Street near Keeaumoku Street before dawn Feb. 18. According to police, the suspect was arguing with three males who then assaulted him, and he stabbed them. Three victims were taken to The Queen’s Medical Center, where one of them, a 28-year-old man, died. The two other victims — men ages 25 and 26 —were treated and released.

Logan said of the recent crimes, “We really need a way to look at that from a whole-of-government approach using academia, social services and capabilities within government and the law enforcement criminal justice system to really ascertain and take a look at what is creating these types of crimes, what’s causing it, and then perhaps we can come to some kind of solution.”