Wisconsin authorities said six people who were found dead in a Milwaukee-area home were shot as police seek to identify suspects in the case, The Associated Press reported.
Milwaukee Police Department (MPD) Assistant Police Chief Paul Formolo said in a news conference Sunday evening that officers were responding to a welfare check Sunday afternoon when they found four men and one woman dead at the residence.
In a tweet, the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office said the body of an additional person, a man, was also found at the residence.
In an emailed statement on Monday, MPD Sgt. Efrain Cornejo told the news wire that all of the victims suffered gunshot injuries, adding the department is seeking “unknown suspects” in the case.
“The recent acts of violence are a stark reminder of the work that still remains to addressing the root causes of violent crime in our city,” Milwaukee County Sheriff Earnell Lucas said in a statement.
According to CNN data, Milwaukee has recorded more homicides in 2021 than any other year on record. Cornejo told the news outlet that there were at least 192 homicides in the city in 2021, two more deaths than the city recorded the previous year.
In a statement, Milwaukee’s acting mayor, Cavalier Johnson (D), expressed his condolences to the families of the victims.
“The murders discovered today on a residential block in the heart of our city are horrific,” Johnson said in his statement. “It is important not to feel numbed by the ongoing violence in our community. A horrible crime has again occurred, and it is not a movie or a fictional account. These victims died in our city, in one of our neighborhoods.”
The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office said autopsies will be performed on the victims on Monday, the AP noted.
The Hill has reached out to the Milwaukee Police Department for more information.