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Police say woman, 4 men found dead in Milwaukee home are homicides

Scene where five people were found dead Jan. 23, 2022, in Milwaukee. (Photo from WTMJ via CNN)

MILWAUKEE (WISH) — Four men and a woman were found killed Sunday afternoon in what the mayor called “a residential block in the heart of our city.”

Paul Formolo, assistant chief of Milwaukee Police Department, said in a Sunday night news conference outside the crime scene that officers went on a welfare check at a home about 3:45 p.m. CST Sunday and found the five people dead.

He said police don’t know the motive behind the homicides or have leads on suspects, but do believe there is no threat to the community. Formolo said autopsies would be done Monday by the medical examiner’s office to determine the identities of the people and their causes of death. He said the autopsies would also determine when the five people died.

Arnitta Holliman, director of Milwaukee’s violence prevention office, condemned the violence during the news conference and called it “ridiculous.” She noted the city’s 2021 record of 197 homicides as she called on people to “do something about it.”

Acting Mayor Cavalier Johnson said in a statement, “The murders discovered today on a residential block in the heart of our city are horrific,” and he offered condolences to the families.