Triple shooting at Beaumont home investigated as murder-suicide, police say

BEAUMONT, Calif. (KABC) -- The deaths of three people who were found shot at a home in Beaumont on Friday is being investigated as a murder-suicide, authorities said.

Officers responded to the 34000 block of Crenshaw Street around 5:30 p.m. after multiple 911 callers reported gunshots and a person laying in the driveway of a home, the Beaumont Police Department said in a statement.

After a woman with a gunshot wound was found in front of the residence, the officers and a Riverside County sheriff's SWAT team entered the house to conduct a search, the news release said. Inside they discovered two other people who had been shot, described only as a male and a female.

Investigators determined the three individuals had died before officers arrived at the scene.

"While the investigation is still in the early stages, the preliminary indication is this incident was a murder/suicide," the police statement said.

The relationship among the three deceased persons was unclear. Their identities were not released.

Zarah Bernales and her husband said they heard three to four gunshots.

"He saw the lady laying down and she was covered in blood," Bernales said.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call police Detective Sgt. Harris at (951) 769-8500.