While saying he killed himself is perfectly normal saying he killed  people without the qualifier including himself is IMHO unusual and potentially confusing Either of the above options are okay altho shot and killed  people before commiting suicide is probably the better option On the other hand saying  people died in the incident is normal but saying  people were killed is similar strange In other words while its normal to say someone killed themselves when they commit suicide its not usually normal to count them as people killed unless you specify the total includes them Also while Im not an expert on US law Im pretty sure Bueller is right and the law doesnt define killing It may define homicide But even then s description doesnt seem accurate because Im pretty sure justifiable homicides are not considered murder or manslaughter in US law