Deputies for the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office found seven people shot dead inside a burning house in Valhermoso Springs, Alabama on Friday, according to WHNT-TV.
Deputies received a call about a shooting on Thursday at 11:23pm. They successfully extinguished the fire before firefighters arrived on site and subsequently found the bodies of three women, four men, and a dog in the house. No one else was in the house when the deputies arrived, Jeff Chunn, the Morgan County coroner told the New York Times.
The Sheriff’s office and the Madison County Sheriff Crime Scene Units have secured the scene. No suspects are in custody but the Sheriff’s office said in a Facebook post that the deaths will be investigated as homicides. They added that there is no immediate threat to people living in the area.
“We believe somebody came to this residence to do ill, did it, and then has left,” Mike Swafford, the spokesperson for the sheriff’s office told the New York Times. “We believe it is an isolated, and not a spree, killing.” He added that the police had previously received complaints about the house related to drugs and trespassing, along with other concerns.
The victims were female and male adults between the ages of 30 and 50 who sustained multiple bullet wounds. Their identities have not yet been released publicly.