Five killed in shooting at house in Temecula
Four people were killed and a fifth died hours later Sunday after a mass shooting at a house in this quiet community that hasn’t had a murder in several years.
Riverside County sheriff’s deputies were called to a house in the 3100 block of Iron Circle near the Temeku Hills Golf and Country Club about 5:20 p.m. after a neighbor reported hearing shots fired.
The deputies found two men and two women dead from gunshot wounds.
The fifth victim, a woman, was still responsive. She was taken to the Inland Valley Medical Center in Wildomar, where she died a few hours later, deputies said.
The victims were found inside and outside the house.
Sgt. Dennis Gutierrez, spokesman for the Sheriff’s Department, said the victims ranged in age from their 20s to their mid-40s.
As of late Sunday, the victims’ identities had not been released, and no motive had been established in the shootings.
“This is a very close-knit community and it’s very rare to have something like this happen here,” Gutierrez said.
Deputies roped off the entire neighborhood Sunday night as investigators tried to collect evidence, an operation they said would last all night and into today.
Temecula Police Chief Jerry Williams, who has been on the job only four months, said he couldn’t recall the last murder the city of about 90,000 had seen.
“This is a very upper-middle-class neighborhood,” he said, standing behind yellow police tape. “And Temecula is a very safe place to live.”
Temecula is a growing city in the southwest corner of Riverside County and is home to many police officers and firefighters.
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