Five members of the same family, including three young boys, have been found dead at a house in Ireland in what police are treating as a case of murder-suicide.
A senior officer of the Garda Síochána confirmed the force was not looking for anyone else in connection with the deaths.
Gardaí said the bodies found at the property in County Cavan on Monday morning belonged to a man in his 40s, a woman in her 30s and their three sons, aged 13, 11 and six.
Garda assistant commissioner John O’Driscoll said: “We believe all the answers are within that house – so therefore the most likely scenario is that one person in that house may have caused the death of the other. All the circumstances will be explored but as it stands at the moment that is the position.”
A number of objects found at the scene were being subjected to detailed technical examination, O’Driscoll said.
Local reports said the bodies were found on Monday morning after a relative called at the home in Oakdene, near the town of Ballyjamesduff, and raised the alarm after they were unable to get into the house.
Two of the bodies were found in a downstairs room while three others were discovered upstairs in bedrooms.
O’Driscoll said: “Nothing had happened prior to this grim discovery this morning that gave rise to anyone – including [the] Garda Síochána – having any suspicion that anything was untoward, and this family were engaged with the community and seen yesterday.
“None of the activity and interaction with other people gave rise to any suspicion as to what was to happen.”
The family had lived in the area for some time and were known in the community. The area around the family home was sealed off and the Irish Republic’s state pathologist, along with the garda technical bureau, were called to the scene.
