Family of eight, including five children were found shot dead at their Utah home after police were called for a welfare check

The bodies – both parents, children and an adult family member – were found with gunshot wounds in the city of Enoch City, in rural Utah

The discovery was made after police were called in for a welfare check on Wednesday

No arrests have been made, but police said they haven’t detected any threat to the public as they investigate

A church-going family of eight, including five children, have been found dead at their Utah home after police were called in for a welfare check.
The bodies of two parents, their five children and another adult were found on Wednesday in the town of Enoch with gunshot wounds. 
City officials in Enoch did not provide more details or a potential motive for the killings but police said they did not detect any threat to the public. 
City Manager Rob Dotson said: ‘We all know this family. Everybody has some connection to the individuals and some connections to the family.’

The bodies of two parents, their five children and another adult were found on Wednesday in the town of Enoch with gunshot wounds. 
City officials in Enoch did not provide more details or a potential motive for the killings but police said they did not detect any threat to the public. 
Enoch is a small town of about 8,000 people in Iron County, rural Utah, located 245 miles south of Salt Lake City.
City Manager Rob Dotson said: ‘We all know this family. Everybody has some connection to the individuals and some connections to the family.’
Dotson said the community was sent reeling by news of the eight bodies and that the deceased – all members of one family – were well known in the southern Utah town.
‘Many of us have served with them in church, in the community and gone to school with these individuals,’ Dotson said in a video statement Wednesday night.
‘This community at this time is hurting. They’re feeling loss, they’re feeling pain and they have a lot of questions,’ Dotson added, noting that officials planned on releasing more information as it becomes available and the police investigation progresses.
‘We won’t know the mindsets, the thoughts of the individuals who experienced this tragedy, but we all can pray that their families and the neighbors and all will come to an understanding of what happened in this place, probably in a day or two, or maybe longer,’ said Dotson, choking up at one point.
Welfare checks usually take place when neighbors raise concerns or when individuals have not been seen for an extended period of time. 
The neighbors said Enoch is a ‘tight-knit community’ where everyone knows everyone, and it has been left shocked by the killings. 

They said children often play in the yards and everyone helps each other out, for example to shovel snow.  The five children attended schools in the Iron County School District in Cedar City, officials said in a letter sent to parents.
The letter posted on the school’s website said: ‘It is with deep regret that we inform you about a tragic loss to our school community. 
‘This afternoon on Jan 4, eight members of a family residing in Enoch with five students in our schools tragically passing away.
‘This loss is sure to raise many emotions, concerns, and questions for our entire school district, especially our students.’ 
It added that a Crisis Intervention Team would help students, parents and staff during the difficult time. 
Enoch Police said in a press release: ‘At this time, we do not believe there is a threat to the public or that there are any suspects at large.’
They added that an investigation is ongoing and more information will be released at a later time.