Watch CBS News

Suspect detained in alleged Sacramento quadruple homicide

SAN FRANCISCO -- Four people, including two children, were found dead inside a Sacramento home Thursday in what police are investigating as a quadruple homicide, reports CBS San Francisco.

A possible suspect was detained later Thursday in San Francisco, according to police.

The four were found around 7:00 a.m. in the city’s South Land Park neighborhood after a relative called police to ask for a welfare check.

ap-17082757046525.jpg
A barricade stretches across the road leading to the home where four people were found dead, Thu., March 23, 2017, in Sacramento, Calif. A suspect is being held in San Francisco. Police are not saying how the four were killed and are not identifying the victims, including their genders and ages. AP

In an interview clip posted on the Twitter account of a Sacramento television station, Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg said, “Certainly our hearts go out to the victims, and their families and to their schools, because this involves a couple of kids as well.”

Steinberg also issued a statement regarding the homicide Thursday afternoon:

“This was a horrifying incident but thanks to the rapid response and good work of our Police Department, the suspect has already been arrested. All our hearts here at City hall go out to the victims, their families, schools and community. As a city, we stand ready to embrace the families and community in anything we can do to help. It’s extremely tragic.”

Sacramento Police spokeswoman Officer Linda Matthew later said that authorities had received a call from a family member Thursday morning to ask for a welfare check at the home due to suspicious circumstances.

Officers arrived at the home at about 7 a.m. and entered after receiving no response at the front door. Upon entering, officers found the four victims dead inside.

Authorities did not offer any details on the identity of the four victims or the circumstances of their death.

San Francisco police confirmed they took a suspect into custody about four miles from the Golden Gate Bridge but would not give other details.

He said the homicide was not random and that the victims were known to the suspect, but did not specify what the suspect’s relationship to the victims was.

Officers were canvassing the neighborhood for possible witnesses.

Sacramento homicide detectives and CSI investigators were on the scene. The single-story beige home with sculpted shrubbery has a basketball hoop set up in a driveway that police blocked off with yellow crime scene tape.

There were no reports of shots fired or other problems until the relative called to report that he was concerned about the welfare of the home’s residents, Sacramento police spokesman Sgt. Bryce Heinlein said. He said he was not aware that any weapon had been recovered.

A few neighbors looking on curiously as homicide detectives and crime scene investigators made their way in and out of the home south of the state Capitol.

Police were interviewing potential witnesses and searching for surveillance cameras as part of what was expected to be part of a daylong investigation that shut down at least one road, Heinlein said.

ap-17082757018499.jpg
A Sacramento City Police officer, center, carries a bag that was brought from the home where four people were found dead, Thu., March 23, 2017, in Sacramento, Calif. A suspect is being held in San Francisco. Police are not saying how the four were killed and are not identifying the victims, including their genders and ages. AP
View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.