El Paso County Sheriff’s deputies found four adults killed in a Wednesday night shooting after sending in a SWAT team to investigate the scene, the office said in a release Thursday afternoon.

According to the release, deputies initially contacted a man who had injuries that were not life-threatening outside in the 21000 block of Akawi Way after responding to the scene just after midnight.

“The initial information we got was that there could be a potential higher risk than what our patrol deputies are capable and appropriate to respond to,” Miller said on a phone call Thursday afternoon.

El Paso County spokesperson Sergeant Marcus Miller said Friday deputies called the SWAT team preemptively in the event of a worst-case scenario like a barricaded subject or hostage situation was happening, but Miller explained they had no reason to suspect any of these situations were actually happening.

The office is investigating the killing of three of the adults — identified in a Thursday release as Desiree Vandelac, 54, Robert Vandelac, 57 and Debray Scott, 30 — as a homicide, according to a release Tuesday afternoon. An additional adult — Peyton Vandelac, 22 — was also found dead inside.

Miller confirmed Peyton Vandelac was the son of parents Desiree Vandelac and Robert Vandelac over the phone on Tuesday afternoon, and that Scott was not related to them.

The investigation later showed the shooting happened before deputies arrived at the scene, he said.

There is no active threat to the community, the release noted.

Editor’s note: This story and headline were updated at 12:20 p.m. Friday, Dec. 8, 2023, to note the “potential hostage situation” was only a worst-case scenario, and the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office had no reason to suspect such a situation was unfolding.

Editor’s note: This story was further updated at 3:44 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2023, to include the identities of the four people found dead in the home.