INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) - California authorities say a father and his 4-year-old son have been killed and a woman and two other young children wounded by a masked gunman who set fire to their home near Los Angeles.

Inglewood police say detectives have determined the man set the house ablaze before opening fire with a weapon. They're trying to determine whether the attacker fled or remained in the house as it burned.

Police told KABC-TV that a SWAT team set up a perimeter and was using dogs to search for the attacker, who may have lived in a rear house on the property.

Five neighboring houses were evacuated. Other nearby residents were told to remain inside with their doors locked. The suspect was described as armed and dangerous.

Police say a 6-year-old boy and a 7-year-old girl are in critical condition and a woman believed to be their mother has gunshot wounds to the knee and pelvis. An 8-year-old boy was uninjured.

Police say the father was shielding two of his children when he was shot.