By Chantal Da Silva —
NBC News
Five people were found dead this Sunday inside a house in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, according to police, for which a multiple homicide investigation has been opened.
After concerned neighbors alerted authorities in the afternoon, authorities found
four men and one woman
dead at the residence, Milwaukee Police Department Deputy Chief Paul Formolo said at a news conference.
"We came here and unfortunately today we found five people deceased," he said.
All five people appeared to have suffered gunshot wounds
, police added, according to Reuters.
The victims have not yet been identified,
autopsies are expected to be carried out on Monday.
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Formolo assured that they still do not know the reason for the attack, as well as who or who could have committed it, and urged anyone with information to come forward to the department.
The incident comes amid a
spike in violence
that saw the Wisconsin city suffer a record 197 homicides in 2021.
“The community is tired.
We're tired of seeing people's lives snuffed out too soon in preventable situations,” said Arnitta Holliman, director of the Milwaukee office of violence prevention.
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“This is absolutely avoidable.
All the gun violence we are seeing is preventable
and we cannot continue on this same trajectory that we have seen for the last two years,” he added.
“That means that each and every one of us has to step up, speak up, stand up, do something to change the course of what is happening in our community,” he stressed.
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Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson called the incident "horrible" in a statement on Twitter.
“First of all, I offer my condolences to the families and friends of the victims.
Whatever the circumstances, we must share the pain of those who have lost someone," he said.
He also condemned the increase in violence in Milwaukee.
“It is important not to feel numb from the ongoing violence in our community.
A horrible crime has happened again, and this is not a movie or a fictional story.
These victims died in our city, in one of our neighborhoods,” he said.
Johnson said city officials remained "steadfast" in their efforts to reduce the violence.
"We will achieve this by strengthening and improving law enforcement, through community prevention, and through a renewed commitment to prevention," he said.