CLEVELAND (AP) - Officers found the bodies of two children and a woman inside a home while investigating the shooting death of a man discovered in a vacant lot, the city’s police chief said Tuesday.
Authorities said they believed the four deaths were connected but released few details about what happened.
Investigators were looking for several people of interest and following multiple leads in the shooting on the city’s east side, said Police Chief Calvin Williams.
A woman told cleveland.com that one of the victims was her brother. Davionna Cousin said her brother lived in a house behind the home where three others were found dead.
Investigators told family members they think her brother was helping the three out when he was shot and killed, Cousin said.
Several relatives and friends gathered outside the house and were crying and hugging. One man was heard yelling, “My son, my son.”
Authorities had not released the names and ages of the victims or how they may have been related.
Officers who were called to investigate smelled smoke at the home where three of the victims were located, the police chief said.
Fire accelerants were found inside the home, Williams said.
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