No Arrest in Las Vegas Family Massacre Reported to School by Young Boy
A 9-year-old boy told school officials his mother and sister were dead at home.
April 17, 2012 — -- No arrests have been made in two Las Vegas deaths discovered after a 9-year-old boy told school officials that his mother and sister were dead at home.
"When officers arrived, even before they entered, they could see that people were down inside," Las Vegas Metropolitan Police spokesman Marcus Martin said today.
When authorities arrived at the house, about a half mile from the Mabel Hoggard Elementary School that the boy attended, they discovered the bodies of the his 10-year-old sister and mother.
HIs 4-year-old brother, who was distressed but unharmed, was also at the house, along with a wounded man covered in blood.
Police will not specify how the man is related to the family, but Martin said, "It appears to be a single family." The man was not arrested or charged and police would not specify how he was wounded.
"An injured male was also taken into custody," Martin said. "That male has been hospitalized and he is not charged with anything as of yet. There is nothing to say that he definitely committed the acts or did not."
But authorities also say that the public has no reason to worry that a killer is on the loose. "We don't have any evidence to support that there's somebody going around doing this," Martin said.
Authorities have yet to release the names any family members, but neighbors and friends told ABCNews.com's Las Vegas affiliate KTNV that the woman was Yadira Martinez and the man as Arturo Martinez.
Property records from the county list Arturo Martinez as the homeowner.
The Las Vegas Coroner's Office said the victims have not been positively identified so it is not releasing names at this time.
Because the police investigation is ongoing, authorities will not disclose any details of the crime, including when it happened. But neighbor Lucinda Jackson Griffith told the Associated Press that she heard at least one gunshot early Monday.
The 9-year-old boy who reported the deaths and his little brother have been taken into child protective services' custody, according to the Associated Press.
Maria Madrid, a distraught friend of the family, stood across the street in tears and told KTNV that her husband had just spent Saturday with the family and that nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
"Why it happen to them? Why the little girl," Madrid said, crying. "They are really lovely people. They are really friendly. I don't know what. I can't imagine what happened to them."
As authorities looks for answers, Madrid mourned the loss of her friends. "Two little kids without a mother, without his sister," she said. "I still can't believe it."
Related Stories
ABC News Live