COMMERCE CITY, Colo. (KDVR) — The Commerce City Police Department is investigating after five people were found dead inside an apartment on Sunday afternoon.
Police said it happened around 4 p.m. in the 14400 block of East 104th Avenue.
When police arrived at the apartment, they found six adults and an infant inside. Five of the adults were declared deceased.
The infant, estimated to be about 4 months old, was transferred to a hospital to be checked and is doing alright, police said.
Another adult was taken to the hospital in an unknown condition.
Authorities had a hazmat crew on scene. Officers said they did find a “substance” but couldn’t say what it was.
“I wish I could give you a definite answer on what caused all this. If it was illicit drugs, they are bad. If it was drugs no one was able to get to the phone to call 911 for a medical emergency,” Chief Clint Nichols, with Commerce City Police Department, said.
Nichols stated substances were found inside the apartment on the third floor. He didn’t speculate what types of drugs they could be or if that’s what killed the five victims.
“There does not appear to be any blunt trauma or violent incident of any nature,” Nichols said.
The South Adams Fire Department also responded to the medical call and helped rule out other causes.
“Firefighters did come out and do a test for hazardous gas that came back negative,” Nichols said.
As of 9 p.m. Sunday, investigators were still not allowed back into the apartment. CCPD relayed to FOX31 and Channel 2 authorities had a hazmat crew on scene to do a sweep of the unit before anyone else was allowed back in.
The worry is the substances found could be dangerous if they come in contact with investigators entering the unit. No apartments surrounding were evacuated. CCPD confirmed an air check was initiated to confirm the air was safe for surrounding units.
“My heart goes out to them. This sucks, this really sucks,” one neighbor, who wanted to remain anonymous, said.
“People were found inside an apartment dead. An infant found alive. I hope the parents weren’t inside but I’ve been doing this long enough, I would be safe to suggest the parents were inside. For the infant this is going to be a long time with no parents,” Nichols said.