Police believe the killing of a family at their West Valley home was a murder-suicide

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WEST VALLEY CITY (ABC4) – The West Valley City Police Department published further information on Wednesday Family found dead at her West Valley home earlier this week.

On Tuesday, Dec. 17, police found two adults and three children dead in a home near 3700 and Oxford Way. An injured 17-year-old boy was also found in the home’s garage. Authorities said the victims all belonged to the same family, which consisted of a mother, a father and four children.

ORIGINAL STORY: 5 people found dead in West Valley City murder, investigation ongoing

Police said they found a handgun under the father’s body, leading investigators to believe he shot his wife and four children before shooting himself sometime over the weekend. This determination is preliminary as authorities are still processing ballistics and forensic evidence.

The mother and two daughters were found dead in an upstairs bedroom, the father and a son were found dead in the living room and another son was found critically injured in the garage.

Police believe the injured son “made his way to the garage” before being found by a family member who was checking in on the family. He is currently being treated for a serious brain injury from what police say he was shot in the head. Due to his injury, he is unable to communicate with authorities.

WVCPD identified the deceased individuals as a 42-year-old man, a 38-year-old woman, an 11-year-old man, a 9-year-old woman and a 2-year-old woman. The identities of the victims are not being publicly released at this time as authorities work to notify next of kin first.

Roxeanne Vainuku, the WVCPD’s communications director, said they had no information about “why this happened” because they had “no history with this family.” She said there was no history of domestic violence, no note and no known motive.

“We understand how frustrating it is when an incident of this magnitude happens and we don’t understand why. We know people want to know why, we want to know why, but the truth is we may never know,” Vainuku said.

More information about when the shooting occurred will likely be revealed following autopsy results. This incident is still under investigation.

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