San Francisco police spent Friday pouring over evidence at the Howth Street home where three women and two men died, just opposite of City College of San Francisco. Even San Francisco Police Chief Greg Suhr was at the crime scene.
"I want to reassure the public that we don't have anyone at large who is going to be looking to be doing random acts," he said. "We believe this act was specific to this residence."
In terms of those specifics, San Francisco police reveal much, at least not officially, but it's a sad story. Four of the victims are related and according to sources in the department, a 12-year-old girl is the person found them at 7:45 a.m. Police say the fifth person was not related, but an acquaintance.
The little girl described a bloody scene, with water leaking all over the place. San Francisco police have said they found one body in the entrance, two more in the back of the house and two others in the garage.
Friends of Vincent Lei, 32, came by the house Friday evening to start a memorial for him. He was found dead along with his wife, mother, father, and older sister -- Yingxue Jess Lei.
"It was pretty traumatic to hear the gravity and the magnitude of what happened," said neighbor Miriam Mendoza Moody, who lives across the street. "I did hear around midnight some very loud male person arguing or yelling."
Mo Iranmanesh lives right next door to the house. He didn't hear anything until the morning. He says he heard "someone screaming saying, 'Help me, help me.'"
The house is owned by software engineer Yingxue Jess who works in Emeryville at Qualitive Medical Systems. Employees there say she did not call in Friday and that is not like her. Iranmanesh knows her as "Jess" and says she is his landlord. He added, "They're cordial, their polite. If I need help, they help me out."
As of Friday afternoon, police would not even confirm if the victims had been shot, but said it appeared at least two of them had.
"We do not have a weapon at the scene, but again, it's a very complicated crime scene inside, that doesn't mean there isn't one inside," Suhr said.
One of those complications being the five victims, which means five separate investigations. There have been rumors and indications based on evidence, that it might be a murder-suicide. San Francisco police will not confirm or deny it.
The coroner has not released the names of the victims, so we can't officially confirm if the homeowner is dead. However, a friend says Yingxue Jess was among the dead.
The people who came to build a vigil burned incense and money for them to spend on the other side as well as food for them to eat.
