AP – Five people were found dead in a Utah home in the United States (US) after a man apparently shot his wife and four children before killing himself, police said. A 17-year-old boy survived but has a severe brain injury.
Police believe the shooting in a split-level house in a Salt Lake City suburb happened over the weekend. The victims weren’t found until Tuesday, however, when a relative who’d been unable to reach the family went inside. The woman found the badly wounded teen in the garage. Arriving officers then found the mother, 38, and two girls, ages nine and two, dead upstairs together in the same bed.
An 11-year-old boy was found dead in a downstairs living room with his father. A handgun underneath the 42-year-old man led police to believe he was the shooter.
Investigators believe the surviving teenage son made his way to the garage after being shot elsewhere.
“The father likely shot all of the members of the family and then himself,” West Valley City Police Department spokeswoman Roxeanne Vainuku said at a news conference.
Neighbours hadn’t reported any gunshots in the area over the weekend.
They had no previous reports of domestic violence or other disturbances involving the family. So far, there was no note or other evidence pointing to a motive, Vainuku said.
“It’s certainly hard for our community to comprehend,” she said.
