Officers checking on a family at a Chicago-area home found two parents and two children fatally shot and say police were still looking for leads on anyone who may have been involved.
The discoveries were made Sunday night after a family member asked police for a “wellbeing check” because one of the victims did not show up for work that day, Romeoville Police Department Deputy Chief Chris Burne said.
“We don’t believe the offender is among the victims right now,” he said during a news conference on Monday. “It is not a murder-suicide.”
Also found at the home were three dogs, also fatally shot, he said.
The parents were identified as Alberto Rolon and Zoralda Bartolomei, the deputy chief said. It wasn’t clear if they were married, he said, but they were the parents of the two child victims.
Those two were not identified, and Burne declined to release their ages and genders, citing the ongoing investigation and its “sensitive” nature.
“A member of the family did not show up for work at 6 am on the morning of Sunday, September 17 and did not respond to phone calls throughout the day, resulting in family members becoming concerned,” Romeoville police said in a statement on Monday.
Officers made the find after the 8:43 p.m. report Sunday, the department said.
Detectives believe the shootings took place between 9 p.m. Saturday and 5 a.m. Sunday, Burne said. It wasn’t clear exactly why.
Any possible motive was a mystery, but the deputy chief said police don’t believe the community was at risk because detectives believe more than 18 hours passed since the crime took place.
Detectives seek anyone who might have been involved, and they hope witnesses and tipsters can help. “Anyone with information should contact the Romeoville Police Department,” police said in Monday’s statement.
Burne said there’s no active police search for any suspected assailants near the home.
“We are not actively looking for anybody in the area,” Burne said.
