Police recovered two handguns after a relative’s request for a welfare check led officers to the five adults late Sunday.
MUNDELEIN, Ill. — Five adults were found shot to death inside a suburban Chicago home late Sunday after a concerned relative requested a welfare check, and police said a preliminary investigation indicates four people were killed before the suspected gunman died by suicide.
Mundelein police responded about 11:45 p.m. to a house in the 200 block of Wellington Avenue after the relative reported being unable to reach one of the people there. Officers entered through an unlocked door and discovered three men and two women dead in several rooms, according to police. Investigators said all five appeared to have been shot at close range with a handgun.
Two handguns were recovered from the home. Police said four of the people who died were members of the same family and the fifth had been in a domestic relationship with the person investigators believe carried out the killings. Two of the five lived at the Wellington Avenue address. Authorities had not publicly released the identities of the dead as of Monday evening while the Lake County Coroner’s Office conducted autopsies and worked to confirm identities.
The discovery set off a large investigation involving Mundelein police, the Lake County Major Crime Task Force and the coroner’s office. Evidence technicians worked inside and around the house through Monday, while detectives canvassed the neighborhood. Investigators also examined a Volkswagen parked at the neighboring Kristan Funeral Home. Authorities have not publicly explained what connection, if any, the vehicle had to the deaths.
Deputy Police Chief Rick Wilfenger said the department had no record of previous emergency calls to the house and no history of police interactions with the people found dead. Police also said they had received no reports of gunfire before the welfare check. The lack of an earlier police call left investigators reconstructing what happened through physical evidence, interviews and other information gathered after officers entered the house.
Some neighbors later recalled hearing sounds around midday Sunday that they initially believed were fireworks or firecrackers. The recollections emerged only after news of the shooting spread. Authorities had not publicly established an exact time for the killings, and the neighbors’ accounts did not prompt a police response when the sounds were first heard.
The welfare check came roughly 12 hours later, after relatives became concerned that family members could not be reached. Officers discovered the bodies soon after entering the house, and the Mundelein Fire Department responded and confirmed the five people were dead.
Police described the shooting as an isolated incident and said investigators had found no indication of an ongoing threat to the public. That assessment allowed officers to focus on the house, nearby vehicles and the relationships among the five people rather than search for an unknown gunman believed to be at large.
Investigators have not publicly disclosed a suspected motive or a detailed sequence of the killings. They also have not said which of the two recovered handguns was used in each shooting or released forensic findings from the weapons. Those questions remain part of the continuing investigation and autopsy process.
Property records reviewed by NBC 5 Investigates linked the Wellington Avenue house to members of a family involved in veterinary medicine, but authorities had not formally identified the five people found dead. Police statements remained focused on the confirmed relationships among the victims and suspected gunman while the coroner completed its work.
The deaths brought an unusually large crime-scene response to the residential block. Yellow police tape surrounded the house into Monday as investigators carried evidence from the property, documented the scene and spoke with nearby residents. The tape was later removed as the visible police presence diminished.
The Mundelein Police Department, Lake County Major Crime Task Force and Lake County Coroner’s Office continue to investigate the deaths. Police have asked anyone with information about the case to contact the department as investigators work to establish the full timeline and circumstances surrounding the shooting.
Author note: Last updated October 20, 2026.