RIVERSIDE  (AP) — A young woman and her two small children were fatally stabbed in their home Thursday, and a suspect was wounded by police who were called to a freeway bridge where a blood-covered motorist was holding a knife, authorities said.

The suspect was believed to be the father of the children, investigators said.

The names of the victims and the suspect were not immediately released. The killings occurred in Riverside, and the suspect was shot in neighboring Corona, about 45 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles.

Corona police received an all-points bulletin at 7:19 a.m. from Riverside police regarding an assault with a deadly weapon.

Minutes later, Corona police received a 911 call about a man who had gotten out of his vehicle on a transition bridge between State Route 91 and Interstate 15.

"The subject was described being covered in blood and holding a knife in his hand," a police statement said.

Arriving officers recognized that the description matched the earlier radio broadcast and began a foot pursuit that ended with an officer-involved shooting under other interchange bridges, police said.

Police did not say what triggered the shooting but noted that a knife was found at the scene.

The man was taken to Riverside Community Hospital, and his condition was unknown, police said.

The stabbing victims were a 25-year-old woman, her 1-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son, Riverside police Lt. Guy Toussaint told The Press-Enterprise.

All had multiple wounds and died at a hospital.

Toussaint told KCAL-TV that the man and woman were in some kind of a relationship but had never been married and did not live at the residence.

"It is believed that he is the father of the children," Toussaint said.

The victims were renters at the home, where two other adults and a child live.

The pursuit and shooting snarled freeway traffic and affected commuter rail traffic.