6 people found shot to death in El Mirage in San Bernardino County desert

Six people were found shot to death Tuesday night in a desert community in San Bernardino County, according to authorities.

Around 8:15 p.m., deputies responded to Lessing Avenue and Shadow Mountain Road — dirt roads near U.S. Highway 395 in El Mirage — after a request for a wellness check, San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department spokesperson Mara Rodriguez said in an email. El Mirage is located about 50 miles northeast of Los Angeles.

Officials initially said five bodies were found, but a sixth was discovered during their investigation, Rodriguez said at a news conference Wednesday morning.

The bodies were found off U.S. Highway 395 at a crossroads in the unincorporated community of El Mirage, Calif.

(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

The bodies had gunshot wounds, FOX 11 reported. Some of them appeared to have been burned, according to ABC7. Their identities were not released by officials as of Wednesday. No arrests have been made.

Details about when or how the people died weren’t released by authorities. The investigation is ongoing.

OnScene footage of the incident showed sheriff’s vehicles bypassing yellow tape to get to the scene.

A long north-south corridor, U.S. Highway 395 runs from Interstate 15 in Hesperia, Calif., through Carson City, Nev., to the Canadian border.

Gloria Huerta, a public information officer with the Sheriff’s Department, said additional information may be shared in the coming days after the coroner takes the bodies.

Huerta said she couldn’t confirm or deny whether the bodies had been burned.

Debris such as cardboard, rubber tires and broken bottles littered the area near Lessing Avenue and Shadow Mountain Road, where authorities taped off the scene.

“Only thing I can say is it’s a desolate area,” Huerta said. “It’s open land, and as far as other incidents occurring, I’m not aware of any. But with the desert area, you just never know.”