(Salt Lake City) Eight people, including five children, were found dead from gunshot wounds in a southern Utah home on Wednesday, authorities said, who did not provide details or a potential motive for the charges. murders.
The victims were found when police conducted a wellness check at the residence, according to a statement from city officials in Enoch, a town of about 8,000 people located some 400 kilometers south of Salt Lake City. .
Police said they did not detect any threats to the public.
Iron County School District officials said in a letter to parents that the five children attended schools in the district.
Enoch Township Chief Executive Rob Dotson said the community was shaken by the news of the eight victims and that the deceased – all members of one family – were well known in the southern town of Enoch. Utah.
“Many of us have been around them in church, in the community and in school,” Mr. Dotson said in a video Wednesday night.
“Our community is suffering right now. People feel lost. They are in pain and they have a lot of questions,” Dotson added, noting officials intended to release more information as it becomes available and the police investigation progresses.
Wellness checks, based on calls to police, like the one that led them to the residence where the bodies were found, are routine when individuals have not been seen for long periods of time, Ms. Dotson.
Utah Governor Spencer Cox offered his condolences in a tweet Wednesday night.