A Winamac woman was in a pickup truck with her two children this afternoon when she was shot and killed, apparently by her estranged husband.

We have been told that Ella and Jon Minix were in the process of separating. In fact, Monday morning began with Ella going to the courthouse, seeking a restraining order against her husband.

Police were actually called to the courthouse when Jon arrived, caused a disturbance, and then left with his son.

Once authorities located him, he began to argue about his custodial rights. After a drug test was administered, Ella was awarded custody of the couple's 13-year-old son and 10-year-old daughter.

The domestic problems continued to escalate throughout the morning, and ended tragically in broad daylight on the streets of Winamac.

Ella was driving a blue pickup truck with the two kids when the vehicle was deliberately hit by another, in an effort to force it to stop.

It is believed that Jon got out of the second truck and shot his wife to death. Police think he then fatally shot himself a short time later.

"I'm really shocked," admitted neighbor Sandy Hurd. "They lived by my father-in-law and mother-in-law, and we were over there a lot, and Jon and his wife were always happy and played with my little boy, my little boy played with their kids. Just seemed like a happy family. I never expected anything like this to come out."

"It initially came in as a 911 call, and there were reported shots fired in this area, so we responded and found one victim in this pickup truck and a second victim in a pickup truck just up the road," explained Winamac police officer Chief Jeff Heims. "The mother was the driver, and there was a ten-year-old child and a 13-year-old child in the pickup with her. They were uninjured."

One neighbor who heard the shots told us she looked out to see the two children running in circles around the truck, very panicky.

We have been told the children are being cared for by relatives.