ORLAND, Calif. -- A San Diego man shot and killed his father-in-law before turning the gun on himself Monday in Orland, a tiny farming community near Chico in Northern California.

Investigators said Clifford Jean Dupee, a chiropractor with an office on Vandever street in San Diego, confronted his mother-in-law and his two young children, but did not harm them, while apparently searching the home for his estranged wife, Cindy.

She hid the children in a closet and then hid herself in the attic.

Coy Eugene Smith, 64, was dead of a single gunshot wound to the chest, authorities said.

Investigators said Dupee had recently separated from his 46-year-old wife but had gone to Orland and arranged to meet her at her parents' home.

Sheriff's deputies said Dupee began arguing with his wife, then attacked her.

When he went outside to get a rifle from his car, his mother-in-law locked the doors.

Dupee fired a shot at the door to open it, then shot Smith.

When he was unable to find his wife, he went outside and shot himself, deputies said.

Dupee's wife is being treated for cuts and bruises. The traumatized children are being treated by a therapist.

Information for this report was provided by Tim Crews of the Valley Mirror.