Police found five people dead after a suspected murder-suicide in a Minnesota residence Wednesday.
Officers from the Hermantown Police Department conducted a welfare check at a house at 11:15 a.m. for Brandon Taylor Cole Skogstad, 29, but he was not home at the time. Hermantown police and officers from Duluth arrived at another home an hour later, where Skogstad, his relatives, and a dog were found dead inside, Duluth police announced in a press conference Thursday.
“It’s tough on all of us — it’s tough on our cops,” said Duluth Police Chief Mike Tusken. “Some police officers, a lot of them, have families, and anytime you go into a situation like this, it is terribly difficult, and you can’t unsee it, so it’s very difficult.”
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The other victims identified by the police were Skogstad’s aunt Riana Lou Barry, 44, his uncle Sean Christopher Barry, 47, and his cousins Shiway Elizabeth Barry, 12, and Sadie Lucille Barry, 9. Tusken said the city of Duluth has not seen a tragedy like this in at least 32 years.
The Duluth Police Department called the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives to assist with the situation, as the suspect had access to weapons. A 9 mm handgun was recovered from the house. Police speculate Skogstad killed his relatives in their sleep and then shot himself.
City Council President Arik Forsman said he knew the victims at one point as his neighbors. He gave his thanks to the city’s first responders for their work and closed the conference by saying the governments at the state and federal levels should ask what they can do to prevent tragedies like this, saying they happen too often.
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The investigation into the grim scene is ongoing.
