6 people found shot to death in California desert

(KTLA) – An investigation is underway Wednesday after six people were found shot to death in the remote desert community of El Mirage, an unincorporated area northeast of Los Angeles.

The bodies were discovered around 8:15 p.m. Tuesday when deputies responded to a welfare check off Highway 395 between Lake Los Angeles and Adelanto, San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department spokesperson Mara Rodriguez said.

Officials initially said there were five victims, but during their investigation, a sixth body was discovered at the scene, Rodriguez said during a news conference Wednesday.

“We have not confirmed the sex or the age of any of the decedents at this point,” Rodriguez said.

The circumstances around the deaths were also unconfirmed, however Victor Valley News Group reports the victims were fatally shot.

The bodies of multiple bloodied victims could be seen strewn about the ground with dozens of evidence markers and bullet casings surrounding them. Some of the bodies also appeared to have been burned.

Nexstar’s KTLA flew their Sky5 helicopter over the scene at 8 a.m., but the images were too graphic to air.

On the ground, two vehicles could be seen in the brush behind crime scene tape investigators used to cordon off the area. One, a dark-colored SUV was riddled with bullet holes and appeared to have some of its windows blown out.

The other was a light-colored van facing the opposite direction. It was unclear if there was any damage to that vehicle.

A sheriff’s department helicopter had also arrived and began circling over the scene after temporarily landing.

The remote desert area of Southern California where the bodies were located was about 15 miles north of Adelanto and 20 miles north of Victorville.

“It is incredibly desolate. I cannot bring home that point enough,” KTLA reporter Annie Rose Ramos said about the location.

No information about the identities of the victims has been released.