HARTLAND β The six people found dead after an apartment fire in a southern Wisconsin village last week had been shot in an apparent case of murder-suicide, according to police.
The bodies of a couple and their four children were found early Friday after firefighters were called to their burning apartment in Hartland. The 10 remaining tenants in the four-unit building made it out safely.
Hartland police revealed on Monday evening, Oct. 24 that each of the six persons, two adults and four children, who were found dead inside a Hartland apartment building following a fire on Friday, Oct. 22 suffered a single gunshot wound. Officials say Connor McKisick's gunshot wound was self-inflicted.
Hartland Police Chief Torin Misko said Monday evening that all victims had one gunshot wound. Connor McKisick, a father and stepfather to the four children, had a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Misko said.
The others who died are Jessica McKisick, a 14-year-old girl, a 12-year-old girl and two 3-year-old boys, all of whom lived with Connor McKisick in one of the apartments. Police did not identify the children, but officials at the schools the girls attended said the older girl was Natalie Kleemeier and her younger sister Sofina Kleemeier.
An apartment building was damaged in a fire in Hartland on Friday.
Misko said all of those who died had a single gunshot wound. He said there is also evidence of an ignitable liquid in the apartment, where multiple guns were found.
"This is a tragic incident for the family of the deceased, for our first responders and for the Hartland community," Misko said.
Hartland Fire Department Deputy Chief Peter Walker speaks with Village Trustee Ann Wallschlager and Village President Jeffrey Pfannerstill at the scene of a fire on Friday in Hartland.
The incident remains under investigation by Hartland police with assistance from the Waukesha County Medical Examiner's Office, State Fire Marshal and Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation.
Hartland is a village of approximately 9,100 people about 26 miles west of Milwaukee.
