Woman, three children found dead with gunshot wounds in West Haven

WEST HAVEN, Weber County — A woman and three children were found dead inside a car in West Haven Tuesday night, according to the Weber County Sheriff’s office. It appeared that all four had been shot.

Sgt. Sean Endsley with the Weber County Sheriff’s Office said a 911 phone call was received by a family member at 9:47 p.m. The family member said they had arrived at the scene and found the woman and children dead inside the car in the driveway of the home.

Once deputies arrived near the area of 1800 South and Prevedel Drive, a 32-year-old woman, a 4-year-old boy, a 2-year-old girl and a 1-year-old girl were all inside the car. Each had suffered from apparent gunshot wounds and were “obviously beyond help,” police said.

Lt. Colby Ryan with the sheriff’s office said later Wednesday morning the bodies had been taken to the medical examiner’s office to determine the primary cause of death. He said detectives were working diligently throughout the night to process evidence inside the car and the house. A handgun was recovered from inside the car.

The woman was a resident, but no further information was released about her or the children. Ryan confirmed there were other people who live inside the home, but did not say whether anyone was inside when officers arrived.

“These types of cases are very tough on everyone involved, as well as the community,” Ryan said. “I mean, whenever you have little kids die in such a way, yeah it’s very difficult for our officers, our deputies, our CSI team, the homicide task force and neighbors.”

Ryan said authorities were waiting for the medical examiner’s results to determine whether the investigation would be conducted as a homicide or something else. Video footage was being gathered to determine how long the car had been sitting in the driveway and when the shots might have been fired.

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This is a breaking news story and may be updated as information becomes available.