5 people found dead in San Francisco house

(AP) SAN FRANCISCO - Police investigators probing the slaying of five people in a San Francisco home were still trying to determine if the suspect is at large, or whether the killer's body may lie among the victims' remains.

Police initially were investigating the deaths of three women and two men in the Ingleside District as a possible murder-suicide.

But police spokeswoman Cmdr. Lyn Tomioka told The San Francisco Chroniclethat authorities do not know whether the body of the killer or killers is inside the home, nor do they know what weapons were used.

Tomioka said the crime scene was so tangled it was hard to assess what exactly had happened.

"We just can't tell," she said. "It is a very difficult scene. The medical examiner is going to sort out for us the cause of death."

The victims' identities have yet to be released.

Authorities remained at the scene Saturday, with yellow police tape sealing off the entire block. Investigators dressed in white hazmat suits walked in and out of the home carrying plastic bags. Police would not say what was in the bags, and reporters were kept at a distance so they could not see what the bags contained.

The neighborhood in the southern part of the city is home to Lick-Wilmerding High School and San Francisco's City College, in addition to a thriving immigrant community, largely from Asia.

"It's an active, ongoing investigation," police Sgt. Daryl Fong said. "They're looking at all information and all types of evidence and still looking to determine what happened."

Neighbors were shaken by the killings.

"It's calm and peaceful here usually, but nowadays neighbors don't know each other so anything can go on," said Jovi Geaga, 26, a resident and a tutor at a nearby church.

Neighbor Miriam Mendoza Moody said she heard a "loud male person angry or yelling at around midnight" on Thursday, but said she did not hear gunshots.

A woman with access to the home discovered the bodies early Friday morning.

She found one man shot to death in the foyer by the front door, said Police Chief Greg Suhr said. She then saw a man and a woman dead in the garage before running out and calling police.

When officers arrived, they found the other two deceased women and determined that at least two of the victims were shot.

Mayor Ed Lee called the incident a terrible tragedy.

"As the San Francisco Police Department thoroughly investigates this incident, I extend, on behalf of the city, our support and sympathy to all family members and friends of the victims involved in this crime," Lee said in a statement.