6 dead at Milwaukee home; homicide investigation underway

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MILWAUKEE (AP) — Six people were found dead in a Milwaukee home in what police are investigating as multiple homicides, authorities said.

Milwaukee police responded about 3:45 p.m. Sunday to assist with a welfare check at the residence where four men and one woman were found dead, Milwaukee Assistant Police Chief Paul Formolo said during a Sunday evening news conference.

The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office tweeted early Monday that the body of an additional person, a man, was recovered from the home. The identities of the dead were pending.

A motive and information about any suspects was not immediately known, Formolo said. Police have not said what caused the deaths, but Formolo said there is no information to suggest that there is a threat to the community.

“It is important not to feel numbed by the ongoing violence in our community. A horrible crime has again occurred,” Acting Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson said in a statement Sunday night.

Autopsies were to be performed Monday, according to the medical examiner.

“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,” said Milwaukee County Sheriff Earnell R. Lucas.

Separately, there were two other homicides during the weekend in Milwaukee County, according to the medical examiner. Milwaukee was among several major U.S. cities that had a record number of homicides in 2021, with officials reporting 197 in Milwaukee for the year.

“This is ridiculous,” Arnitta Holliman, director of Milwaukee’s Office of Violence Prevention, said at the news conference Sunday. “I’m sorry, I don’t know a better word to say. The community is tired. We are tired of seeing people’s lives snuffed out too soon in preventable situations. This is absolutely preventable.”