Sheriff: 4 found fatally shot in ND likely murder-suicide

CANDO, N.D. (AP) — Sheriff’s deputies are investigating the deaths of four people found shot in a wheat field in rural northeast North Dakota as a murder-suicide.

The Towner County Sheriff’s Office said deputies were dispatched to the field south of Cando, the county seat, about 6 p.m. Monday for a report of four unresponsive individuals.

Responding deputies found four bodies and secured the scene with the help of the North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation and other law enforcement agencies.

A firearm was found in possession of one of the individuals, the sheriff’s office said. Evidence at the scene indicates it was a murder-suicide case and that there is no know threat to the public, according to a statement from Sheriff Andrew Hillier.

The sheriff’s office declined to release the gender, relationship or identities of those who died or circumstances surrounding the shootings.

Cando is 118 miles (189.9kilometers) west of Grand Forks.