Neighbors described a familiar household and an ordinary Sunday before police discovered five adults dead in an apparent murder-suicide.
MUNDELEIN, Ill. — Residents of a quiet Mundelein neighborhood were confronting an extraordinary act of violence Monday after five adults were found shot to death in a Wellington Avenue home where neighbors said the longtime residents had been familiar, friendly faces.
The five deaths, which police described as an apparent murder-suicide, were discovered shortly before midnight Sunday after a relative who could not reach one of the victims requested a welfare check. Officers entered the house in the 200 block of Wellington Avenue and found three men and two women dead. Four were relatives, while the fifth had been in a domestic relationship with the suspected gunman, police said.
For people living nearby, the scale of the investigation contrasted sharply with their experience of the block. Neighbors described the older couple associated with the house as quiet and friendly, and one resident recalled the woman who lived there as a cat lover who regularly interacted with people in the neighborhood. Another told the Daily Herald that violence of this scale was far outside what residents expected to encounter there.
Property records examined by NBC 5 Investigates show that the Wellington Avenue property is owned by veterinarians Rebecca Schmidt, 77, and James Schmidt, 80, along with their son, Bryan Schmidt, 51. NBC reported that the family was connected to the Northern Illinois Cat Clinic in nearby Libertyville. Authorities, however, had not publicly identified the five people found dead, and the property records alone do not establish who was inside the house when the shootings occurred.
That distinction remained important Monday as neighbors and relatives awaited formal identifications from the Lake County Coroner’s Office. Police said two of the dead lived at the Wellington Avenue address but did not name them. Autopsies were underway, and officials said identities would be confirmed before additional information was released.
Some residents told NBC 5 Investigates they remembered sounds around the start of Sunday’s Chicago Bears game that they initially dismissed as fireworks or firecrackers. Police said the department received no reports of gunfire at the time. Investigators had not publicly established whether those sounds marked the exact time of the shootings.
The first known request for police assistance came much later, about 11:45 p.m., when a concerned relative reported being unable to contact one of the people at the house. Officers found the door unlocked and discovered bodies in several rooms. Police believe all five adults were shot at close range with a handgun, and two handguns were recovered from the scene.
By early Monday, the home and part of the surrounding area had been transformed into an active crime scene. Police vehicles lined the street, yellow tape blocked access and evidence technicians moved through the property. Detectives also examined a Volkswagen in the parking lot of the funeral home directly behind the residence. Officials have not said what role, if any, the vehicle played in the case.
The investigation drew assistance from the Lake County Major Crime Task Force and the Lake County Coroner’s Office. Detectives went door to door seeking information while technicians documented and collected evidence. As the work progressed, the police tape was eventually removed and much of the visible activity around the house subsided.
Authorities said there had been no previous emergency calls from the home and no known history of police interactions with the five people who died. Investigators have not announced a motive or described any earlier dispute that might explain the violence. They also have not released a detailed chronology showing when each person arrived at the house or when the shootings occurred.
Police said the preliminary evidence points to one of the five people killing the other four and then dying by suicide. The department characterized the incident as isolated and said there was no continuing threat to the public. Authorities have not disclosed which person they believe was the gunman pending the identification process and further investigative work.
The absence of an ongoing danger did little to lessen the impact on residents who awoke Monday to investigators surrounding a house they associated with ordinary neighborhood life. Accounts from neighbors focused less on signs of trouble than on the contrast between the people they knew and the violence police later found inside.
Mundelein police, the Lake County Major Crime Task Force and the coroner’s office continue to investigate. Formal identification of the dead, autopsy findings and a clearer timeline are among the remaining developments that could provide more answers about how five people died inside the home.
Author note: Last updated October 20, 2026.