Boy searches for help after seeing parents shot dead

A gunman shot a couple dead in their pick-up truck in California, forcing their blood-spattered five-year-old son to leave his baby sister and wander the neighbourhood in search of help.

Police have made no arrests in the slayings, but have said the couple, who are Mexican immigrants, apparently knew their killer, who was seen by neighbours fleeing on foot from the scene.

Jose Antonio Delacruz, 31, and Flor Guzman-Vasquez, 28, both of Daly City, were found dead on Friday night in the city's Mission Terrace neighbourhood.

The couple's 5-year-old son, Oscar Limon, and 13-month-old daughter, Sahian Michelle, were unhurt.

Mary Jo Cooney found the boy on her doorstep spattered with his parents' blood and clutching a Nintendo video game after the shooting.

"'A bad man, he's trying to hurt my family' - those were his exact words," Cooney said.

Relatives who gathered yesterday to mourn the deaths said they had no idea why anyone would want to kill the couple, who are from the Mexican state of Jalisco.