Police on Wednesday were investigating the when and why behind the deaths of five Utah family members — including three children — who were found in their home after a relative grew concerned about not hearing from them for several days.
A wounded 17-year-old boy who had apparently been shot was also discovered in the home’s garage Tuesday. As of that evening, police in the Salt Lake City suburb of West Valley didn’t know whether the teen was a suspect or a victim in the case. Due to his injuries “there are some challenges in communicating with him and finding out more information,” spokesperson Roseanne Vainuku said.
Authorities did not believe there was a suspect at large and that the crime was “isolated to this home,” Vainuku said at a news conference Tuesday. Police have said they expect to provide more information Wednesday.
A relative of the family called police on Monday night to report being unable to contact a woman who lived at the home for several days, despite usually having regular contact with her, Vainuku said.
Officers looked in windows and spoke to neighbors, but did not find any indications of an emergency or a crime so they asked the family member to keep in contact, she said.
“As we know, adults have the right to do what they want to do and they don’t have to communicate with their family members if they don’t want to,” Vainuku said. “So that is kind of a tricky balance in protecting people’s rights to do what they want to do but also acknowledging the concerns of family members.”
After the woman did not show up for work on Tuesday, the family member went into the garage where she found the 17-year-old badly injured and called police. Officers found the woman, a 42-year-old man along with an 11-year-old boy and two girls, ages 9 and 2, dead in the house.
“Absolutely horrific. This is something that certainly will weigh heavily on investigators in this case,” Vainuku said.
Police are investigating inside the home and have also been talking with neighbors and looking for evidence from things like doorbell cameras, Vainuku said.
This Utah case is the 38th mass killing in the United States this year. At least 165 people have died this year in U.S. mass killings, which are defined by the FBI as cases in which four or more people die within a 24-hour period, not including the killer.
