3 children, 2 adults dead; teen found critically shot in garage of Utah's family home

Five family members are dead and a 17-year-old boy was clinging to life Wednesday after police said a relative discovered the victims inside a north central Utah home.
The bodies and the survivor were found Tuesday night inside a house in a West Valley City, a southwest Salt Lake City suburb, police first reported on X.
Police said the dead − a 42-year-old man, a 38-year-old woman, an 11-year-old boy, a 9-year-old girl and a 2-year-old girl − appear to all live in the home.
It was not immediately known how the victim's died but their deaths were being investigated as homicides, West Valley City Police Departmentspokesperson Roxeanne Vainuku said during a press conference late Tuesday night.
“We do not believe there’s a suspect on the loose,” the spokesperson told reporters.
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'No sign of an emergency'
Vainuku said a concerned family member contacted police Monday to report they had not heard from a woman who lived in the home.
That same day, police said, officers responded to the home and "tried to make contact" but no one answered. Officers looked in the home's windows and spoke to neighbors but found no sign of an emergency or crime so they asked the family member to keep in contact, Vainuku said.
When the woman failed to report to work Tuesday, the same concerned relative entered the garage of the home, found a 17-year-old boy critically injured from a gunshot wound, and alerted police.
Arriving officers then entered the home and found the bodies of five people, the spokesperson said.
As of Wednesday morning police had not released the victim's identities but Vainuku said there was no apparent threat to the community.
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Police unsure if 17-year-old is suspect or victim
On Tuesday night, police posted on X, investigators obtained a search warrant for the home and detectives entered the residence to collect evidence.
The 17-year-old boy was taken to a hospital to be treated for major injuries, Vainuku said, and detectives have not been able to speak with him.
“I know he suffered a pretty significant injury,” Vainuku told reporters. “I know he’s in a condition where we’ve not really been able to communicate with him. We do not know at this point if he is a suspect in this case or if he is a victim in this case."
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