Thursday night a woman was killed by the father of her children, while she was at a YMCA pool in Montclair. According to The New York Times, the 31-year-old woman was shot by the father of her two children while her sons and other people were nearby, watching.

31-year-old Monica Paul, of Montclair, was shot by 37-year-old Kenneth Duckett, of Orange. N.J. Paula Dow, the Essex County prosecutor, said that authorities were searching for Duckett and also for an accomplice who helped Duckett leave the scene, as he had a car. Police said that a white Jeep was found abandoned outside Orange. In 2007, the woman had obtained a restraining order against Duckett.

The shooting took place around 6.30, at the Helen and Bill Geyer YMCA Family Center. There were many children and parents, as the kids were taking swimming lessons. Apparently the whole scene happened in front of the woman’s 11-year-old daughter, as her other child was at the swimming class. Officials said that there was no child hurt. According to witnesses, there have been three or four shots.

The two children were taken by Paul’s relatives, said Dow.

Paul, a 1995 graduate of Montclair High School, divorced Duckett in 2003 and was taking care of her two children. A friend of the victim said that she was a good mother and she did her best to take care of her two children, reported The Star-Ledger.