Gunshots confirmed in San Mateo home deaths

The police have reiterated they believe this was an isolated incident, as “we are confident the person responsible was located within the home,” according to the police department’s recent press release. It also stated there was a 9 mm pistol and loaded magazine in the bathroom. 

“Everyone is currently getting autopsies done, so we are waiting for that to determine a lot of things, like how many gunshot wounds,” San Mateo police spokesperson Officer Jerami Surratt said. “We can’t confirm 100% who was the suspect until we get that information back.”

Surratt said the autopsy was scheduled to begin Tuesday morning, but did not start until the afternoon, and he hopes more information about their identification and causes of death are determined no later than Wednesday. 

Officers responded to a call Monday morning around 9 a.m. requesting a welfare check for the individuals on the 4100 block of Alameda de las Pulgas. Officers found no signs of forced entry, and ultimately entered the home through an unlocked window, subsequently finding the four bodies in the bathroom and bedroom. 

Police have not released additional details about the relationship between the individuals until they are definitively identified. 

“There are speculations about [their relationship], but until we get the formal identification of everyone, we can’t confirm that this was a family or not until we get everyone identified,” Surratt said. 

The area, located in the Sugarloaf neighborhood, was closed yesterday from 39th to 42nd avenues due to the law enforcement investigation, with neighbors being escorted to and from their homes. 

It’s been almost 20 years since the city’s police have responded to such an incident involving two adults and minors found dead in a home. The triple homicide and murder involved Tony Richards, 53, who had killed his wife and two daughters on Maxine Avenue in the Shoreview neighborhood in 2005, citing financial issues in a note he left behind.