The officers on duty at a police station in northern California did not initially believe a man who walked into the lobby and declared that he had killed several people, one of whom was in his car outside.
The man entered the Mount Shasta department around 12:10 p.m. and said he had committed murder at his home in Roseville, more than 200 miles south, police said. Officers confirmed a man’s body was in the car, and Roseville police found another adult and two juveniles dead at an apartment on Junction Boulevard, police said.
“He just came in and told our dispatcher that I want to confess to a murder, and then just gave it up,” Sgt. Robert Gibson of Mount Shasta told the New York Times. “I have never had someone come in with a body and turn themselves in here. This was unusual for us.”
Police Tuesday identified the suspect as Shankar Hangud, 53, and said he may have killed the victims – his relatives – over several days.
Hangud was calm and straightforward when he arrived at the police station, Gibson told the Times, and did not say anything about why he allegedly killed the victims. Police declined to reveal the victims’ manner of death.
Hangud is in custody and has been charged with four counts of murder. Police said they believe Hangud acted alone and do not think there is a threat to the public.
Police in Mount Shasta and Roseville, about 20 miles northeast of Sacramento, are seeking search warrants for the locations of the bodies in both towns.