Eight people — six of them children — were found dead inside a Michigan residence after a fire broke out, with some of the victims having sustained gunshot wounds, according to law enforcement officials who spoke Friday.
Emergency crews responded shortly before noon to a house fire in Grand Haven Township, located along the eastern shore of Lake Michigan. Upon entering the home, officers and firefighters discovered the bodies inside, Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office Captain Jacob Sparks announced at a news conference held that evening.
Captain Sparks told reporters that authorities had not yet fully identified all of the victims and that official causes of death had not been determined. He confirmed the children were between 5 and 15 years of age.
Sparks declined to specify how many of the deceased had been shot.
“It’s a complicated scene, a complex scene,” Sparks said.
Investigators indicated they are not pursuing any suspects outside the home, and that a murder-suicide is among the working theories being examined. Sparks said it appeared that every person who had been living in the residence was among the dead.
The fire itself is being treated as suspicious, with Sparks stating there is reason to believe it was deliberately set. Arson investigators from the Michigan State Police have joined the investigation at the scene.
Grand Haven Township is a community of roughly 18,000 residents situated approximately 25 miles west of Grand Rapids.
