Chicago police believe they are searching for more than one killer. A relative found the victims, three men and two women, inside a home in the 7600-block of South Rhodes in Chicago's Chatham neighborhood.
Police made it clear a Thursday afternoon news conference the case is a high priority for them. It is Chicago's worst mass killing in five years.
Police are being very careful with how they proceed. They say they have uncovered a tremendous amount of evidence inside the home. At this point, however, they are not sure where that evidence is going to lead them.
Twenty-four hours after discovering the bodies of five people inside the single family home at 76th and Rhodes, police still have much of the area sealed off. Investigators say the house was thoroughly ransacked and it may have been the work of more than one person. All five of the victims' bodies were found on the first floor.
"There's a lot of damage done throughout this entire residence, on all levels of this residence. So they spent quite a bit of time in there," said Commander Eddie Welch, Chicago Police.
One of the five people inside the home, according to relatives, was 25-year-old Tony Scales of Riverdale. Those who knew him are having a hard time understanding what happened.
"They staying out of the way, all this stuff out here on the streets. No drugs, no gangs, none of that, you know. They have fun. They are young. They have fun, what they are supposed to do," said Corey Brown, victim's cousin.
Relatives of Donovan Richardson say he owned the home. They say he was a hard-working guy, with no enemies, and they say none of it makes any sense.
"Everything is tore up. See everybody dead. They looked like they was looking for money," said Terry Arrington, victim's cousin.
At least one of the female victims, according to relatives, worked as a dancer at Arnies club in Harvey. Neighbors also speculated about heavy traffic in and out of the house but police refuse to speculate about a possible motive in the case.
"There was something that was definitely planned at this time. It wasn't something that was random. No killer running in the neighborhood. This was an event that was targeted. They were targeted," said Welch.
In addition to Scales and Richardson, the medical examiner's office has identified the other three victims as well. They include Reginald Walker, Whitney Flowers and Lakesha Boss. Police say all five of the victims were friends. Police say they do believe all of them were targeted, but they don't know why or by whom.
Also, police are not sure when exactly the victims were killed. Part of the reason is because there was loud music blaring the entire through the evening up until the afternoon when they were discovered Wednesday. Police believe it is possible the loud music may have been used to mask the sound of the gunshots.
