5 found dead, 1 injured inside West Valley City home

SALT LAKE CITY — West Valley police have released new information on a homicide that left five family members dead and one of them badly injured on Tuesday evening.

West Valley City Police Department spokesperson Roxeanne Vainuku said officers received a call requesting a welfare check at a home at Oxford Way in West Valley City on Monday night.

During that welfare check, officers were not getting a response from anyone inside. Vainuku said they looked into the windows and spoke with neighbors but ultimately determined they could not enter because there was no evidence of distress and left the scene. Police told the family member who requested the check to keep in touch with them.

“(On Tuesday,) the woman who lives inside this home did not show up for work, so that same family member did come back to the house and actually entered the garage of the home,” Vainuku said.

The family member found a 17-year-old boy suffering from a gunshot wound in the garage and called police around 2:10 p.m. Police said he was taken to a nearby hospital.

Shortly after, police entered the home to look for further victims and five others 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.

Vainuku said all victims in the case died of apparent gunshot wounds.

“This is a very dynamic crime scene,” Vainuku said.

Vainuku said it was unclear Tuesday night whether the 17-year-old who was found was a victim or a suspect in the case, but due to his injuries, it was proving difficult to gain information from him right away.

Investigation begins

As of 8 p.m. Tuesday, Police were waiting for a search warrant to be granted in order to continue searching the home, and a suspect had not been identified. The warrant was granted shortly after.

“Just do give you an idea of the process here: When we get called out to a situation like this and we enter the home, (if) the initial officers who respond to this and see deceased people inside, they very quickly ensure there’s no one else inside the home who might need assistance, and that there are no suspects inside the home,” Vainuku said, “and then they pull back out of the home and wait for a search warrant to be able to enter and for investigators to get in there and start their work of gathering information and evidence.”

Technicians photograph the front walk and entrance as police investigate what they’re calling a multi-victim homicide after five people were found dead inside a West Valley City home on Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (Scott G Winterton, Deseret News)

Vainuku noted that the department is in the preliminary stages of the investigation and officers did not believe there is a danger to the public.

Chris Bertram, former precinct chief at Unified Police Department, spoke with KSL NewsRadio about the case.

“It’s a dynamic situation, you have to weigh what information is known at the time when you show up for (wellness checks),” Bertram said. “You have to take all of those things into account before you get into the house. There may not be enough information at that point (the first call) to get into the house.”

Police investigate what they’re calling a multi-victim homicide after five people were found dead inside a West Valley City home on Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (Scott G Winterton, Deseret News)

Community reaction

Neighbors in the area said Oxford Way is a quiet street, and the family mostly kept to themselves. Next-door neighbors said they began to worry when the dog hadn’t been fed in a few days, but they didn’t expect what news was to come.

One neighbor even said they heard what they thought was a car popping days before the family was found. Now, they’re wondering if they had actually heard the sound of gunshots.

Michael Webster said he has lived in the area since the 1970s. He said the family lived in the area for a few years, and records show the family resided at the house starting in 2021. According to him, the family was quiet other than the school bus picking up the kids for school.

Neighbors watch from down the street as police investigate what they’re calling a multi-victim homicide after five people were found dead inside a West Valley City home on Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (Scott G Winterton, Deseret News)

“It’s just a total shock I can’t believe this happened,” he said. “That’s the kind of thing you see on (Los Angeles) news. I guess it can happen anywhere.”

Another neighbor, Tristan Williams moved in last year. He said his girlfriend called him at work to let him know there was something serious going on, but he also never imagined the crime scene he’d actually arrive home to.

“You don’t really realize how real the world is until it’s like close to home, you know,” he said.

As neighbors trickled in, arriving home from work Tuesday, they all reacted in disbelief.

The home is not far from Granger High School, and KSL TV contacted Granite School District.

“Since we are unable to verify if the victims were students, we aren’t making any statements at this time,” the district said. “However, this is a major crisis and we will have support tin the neighboring schools tomorrow to support any students or staff who may need it.”

Contributing: Debbie Worthen, Karah Brackin and Jacob Freeman, KSL TV

This is a breaking news story and was updated with additional information after its initial publication.