CHICAGO — Police said they believe six family members found dead in their southwest Chicago home were killed in a “targeted incident,” though they’re still trying to determine a possible motive.
It’s possible someone in the family “was involved in something that could have targeted them,” or that the killings occurred during a robbery or a domestic incident, police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said late Friday.
Police found the six people
— two children, two women and two men — dead on Thursday after one of the men’s co-workers called 911 to report he hadn’t shown up to work for two days.
Authorities initially said it was possible one person killed the other five before taking his or her own life. But the Cook County medical examiner’s office on Friday ruled their deaths homicides, saying five were stabbed to death and the sixth died of multiple gunshot wounds.
Police have added extra patrols as a precaution, though Guglielmi on Friday repeated earlier police statements that they don’t believe the public is in danger.
There was no forced entry into the home and the house wasn’t ransacked.
“This appears certainly centered and targeted on that family, and what we’re trying to do is figure out why,” he said.
The medical examiner’s office identified the victims as Leonardo Cruz, 13; Alexis Cruz, 10; Rosaura Martinez, 58; Maria Herminia Martinez, 32; Noe Martinez Sr., 62; and Noe Martinez Jr., 32.