A family of two adults and six children were found dead — at least some of them with gunshot wounds — after a “suspicious” house fire was extinguished in western Michigan on Friday, the authorities said.
Firefighters and sheriff’s deputies who responded around noon to a report of a house fire in Grand Haven Township, near the eastern shore of Lake Michigan, found eight people dead inside, the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office said.
At least some of the victims were found with gunshot wounds, Capt. Jake Sparks of the sheriff’s office said on Friday night.
The children ranged in age from 5 to 15 years old, and the adults were likely in their 40s, Captain Sparks said. They were all members of the same family.
“It appears to be a murder scene set on fire,” he said, adding that there were no outstanding suspects.
He did not believe that anyone besides those found dead — who were found throughout the house — had lived there.
Arson investigators from the Michigan State Police were also at the scene, collecting evidence with the help of a dog to determine if accelerants were used, Captain Sparks said.
The cause of the fire remains unknown. Fire and smoke had spread throughout the house, but it did not sustain any major structural damage, Captain Sparks said.
Deputies were first called to the home around 8:30 a.m. after receiving calls about “a smell of smoke,” but no address was given and no fire was found at the time, he said.
Marissa Kroll, a neighbor, said she was walking her dogs around noon when she saw smoking coming out a side of the house and called 911.
Children who lived at that house were “always out and about” playing with others in the neighborhood, she said, adding that she did not know those who lived there.
Grand Haven, a nearby beach town on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan, is a popular vacation destination.