Suspect pronounced dead after 3 found dead in Calif. fire

NEEDLES, Calif. (AP) — The suspect of an apparent triple homicide in Southern California was pronounced dead Friday, authorities confirmed.

Deputies from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department killed the suspect linked to three individuals found dead after a house fire in Riverside, California, said department spokeswoman Gloria Huerta.

The suspect was killed in Needles, California, and officials are investigating across agencies to find out more details, Huerta said. Riverside is about 50 miles (80 kilometers) southeast of downtown Los Angeles.

Friday morning, Riverside police received a call for a welfare check regarding a man and woman involved in a disturbance near a car, said Riverside Police Officer Ryan Railsback. Dispatchers were later alerted of smoke and a possible fire where the disturbance may have begun.

Firefighters arrived to find the three people deceased inside, and the man and woman gone. Investigators didn’t think the blaze killed the victims.

Authorities were trying to determine the possible link between the disturbance and the fire, Railsback said.

The victims’ identities have not been released but authorities believe they were all adults, according to Railsback. It was also not immediately clear whether all three lived in the home.

Railsback said detectives and arson investigators were looking into the cause of the blaze, which was extinguished quickly.