When a worried relative checked on the house, five members of a Utah family were discovered dead, and one survivor was discovered wounded by a gunshot wound, according to the police.
A 42-year-old man, a 38-year-old woman, an 11-year-old boy, and two- and nine-year-old daughters are among the dead, according to Roxeanne Vainuku, a spokesman for the West Valley City Police Department.
The cause of the five’s deaths is unknown, but a homicide inquiry is underway. According to police, the violence has stopped and was “isolated to this home,” Vainuku stated.
She stated, “We don’t think there’s a suspect on the loose.”
The 17-year-old boy was found alive and wounded from a gunshot wound when police arrived, she said, after the worried relative had entered the house through the garage earlier Tuesday.
According to Vainuku, the teen was admitted to the hospital in an unidentified condition.
“At this time, we are unsure whether he is a suspect or a victim in this case,” she said.
According to Vainuku, the bodies were discovered inside the main house after police raced to the site. Officers retreated to await clearance of a search warrant after inspecting the house to make sure no other victims or potential suspects were present, she said.
Police reported on X on Tuesday night that officers were inside gathering evidence after obtaining a judge’s permission to search the house.
Detectives, according to Vainuku, are hoping that evidence found within the house “will tell us what really happened.”
According to Vainuku, the victims seemed to fit the description police have of the family living in the house: two parents and four kids, aged two to seventeen.
According to Vainuku, the same relative contacted to report that the woman who lives there had been unusually distant for a few days, which prompted police to be called to the house on Monday.
According to her, police left till Tuesday when a door knock went unanswered and a window scan revealed no indications of an emergency.
Detectives have made unsuccessful attempts to speak with the hospitalized 17-year-old as officers searched the vicinity for additional information, according to Vainuku.
“I am aware that he sustained a fairly serious injury,” she stated. I am aware that he is in a state where communication with him has been difficult.
According to Vainuku, the killings doubled the city’s 2024 homicide total, which was four prior to the violence that occurred that week.
About 10 miles southwest of Salt Lake City is West Valley City, home to 134,470 people. In order to service four rapidly expanding towns outside of Salt Lake City, it was founded in 1980.
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