By Jennifer Hassan
Eight members of a family - including five children - were found dead at a home in Enoch City, authorities said, an incident that is already rattling the small community in southern Utah.
Police responding to a welfare check at the home found the eight with gunshot wounds, city officials said on Wednesday, according to the Associated Press, though it was not immediately clear why police were initially called to the address. The names and ages of the deceased have not been released.
Enoch City Manager Rob Dotson said in a news conference Wednesday that authorities have not found a motive so far, saying: "We don't know why this happened, and we're not going to guess."
Dotson stressed that it could take a long time for experts to investigate what happened inside the family home.
The community of about eight thousand people in southern Utah is devastated by the incident, Dobson said. "They're feeling loss, they're feeling pain and they have a lot of questions," he said.
"We all know this family," Dotson continued, explaining that "everybody has some connection to the individuals and some connections to the family."
Iron County School District in Cedar City, Utah, said in a statement Wednesday that all five children had been students at its schools and that the deaths were a "tragic loss" for the community.
"This loss is sure to raise many emotions, concerns, and questions for our entire school district, especially our students," it said.
In a tweet, Deidre Henderson, lieutenant governor of Utah, described the shooting as "a tragedy" and said she was praying for the community of Enoch City.
"Our hearts go out to all those affected by this senseless violence," Utah Governor Spencer Cox (R) tweeted. "Please keep the community of Enoch in your prayers."
The Washington Post