The bodies of five people and a dog were found Wednesday at a Minnesota home in what a police officer called an “unimaginable tragedy.”
The people, who were not identified, appear to be relatives, Duluth police said in a statement.
A suspect is among the dead, a police spokesman said.
It is not clear how the five people died. The spokeswoman, Kate Van Daele, declined to comment on the cause of death.
The department said another police station had alerted authorities to a person with access to weapons in the house where the bodies were found.
Duluth’s NBC affiliate KBJR reported that Hermantown Police had received a call earlier in the day about a welfare check at a home. The person they were looking for wasn’t there.
About an hour later, Hermantown Police led the Duluth Police Department to the house where the bodies were found, according to the news station. Duluth Police discovered that the person Hermantown Police sought was at Duluth’s home during their welfare check. Police were aware of the house, Minneapolis NBC affiliate KARE reported.
Several law enforcement agencies responded to the house north of downtown Duluth, the department said. During a search, officers found the five bodies and the dog, the department said.
Duluth Police Chief Mike Tusken gave no details about the nature of their deaths during a news conference. He described the incident as an “unimaginable tragedy that hit our community, one that is really, really hard for us.”
Duluth Mayor Emily Larson wrote in a statement about: Twitter that ‘things have happened today that cannot be undone’.
“We are a community in pain and shock, sharing grief at the loss of our people,” she added. “…My heart, just like yours, definitely aches because of the pain of loved ones and the anguish that people probably experienced on their last day here with us.”
