Another victim discovered in Wisconsin suspected homicide, bringing total to 6

By Joe Sutton, Alaa Elassar and Gregory Lemos, CNN

The number of people found dead inside a Wisconsin home Sunday afternoon in a suspected homicide has risen to six.

The Milwaukee Medical Examiner’s Office (MMEO) previously reported the number of victims as five but listed an additional victim — an adult male — on Monday. That brings the total to five males and one female, the MMEO said.

The Milwaukee Police Department said the victims “had injuries that are suspected to have been caused by gunfire.”

Public information officer Sgt. Efrain Cornejo confirmed the victims’ possible cause of death to CNN in a Monday email. Cornejo said authorities continue their search for “unknown suspects.”

Police were assisting with a wellness check at a residence in Milwaukee around 3:45 p.m. when they found the bodies of five people. The circumstances around the discovery of an additional victim was not immediately known.

“All five deaths are being treated as homicides,” Milwaukee Police Assistant Chief Paul Formolo said Sunday evening. “At this time, the motive and information regarding any involved suspects is not known to us right now.”

The identities of the victims are pending and autopsies were being conducted Monday, according to Formolo.

Authorities do not believe there is a threat to the community, the assistant chief said.

When asked about the reason for the wellness check on the residence, Formolo said, “Citizens of our community had concerns with the occupants that resided there and it’s a normal call for us to respond to. We do it all the time.”

Mayor Cavalier Johnson extended condolences to the victims’ loved ones in a statement obtained by CNN.

“The murders discovered today on a residential block in the heart of our city are horrific,” Johnson said. “It is important not to feel numbed by the ongoing violence in our community. A horrible crime has again occurred, and it is not a movie or a fictional account. These victims died in our city, in one of our neighborhoods.

Milwaukee, one of the country’s 40 most populous cities, has recorded more homicides in 2021 than any other year on record, according to a CNN analysis of police department data.

This was the second year in a row that the city set a homicide record, Sgt. Cornejo confirmed to CNN.

There were at least 192 homicides in 2021, Cornejo said. In 2020, the city recorded 190.

“We remain steadfast in our efforts to reduce violence,” Johnson said. “We will achieve that through strengthened and improved law enforcement, through community intervention, and through a renewed commitment to prevention.”

Police are asking anyone with information about the case to contact Crime Stoppers or the Milwaukee Police Department.

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