By David Porter
The Associated Press
 AP Photo/Mike Derer A fire fighter looks at damage inside a burned out house where three people died in Irvington, N.J., on Monday. Three bodies were found — it appears the fire was set to conceal a homicide. |
IRVINGTON, NJ — Three bodies and one injured person were found after a house fire Monday morning and officials said at least two of the four victims had been shot.
The fire caused extensive damage to the three-story wood frame house near the Newark-Irvington border.
“It’s a horrific crime scene,” Essex County Prosecutor Paula Dow said. “We have multiple victims and a fire that looks like a cover-up.”
Newark Fire Department Director Dave Giordano told The Star-Ledger of Newark that one female whose body was found in the house had been shot in the head.
An injured woman underwent surgery at University Hospital in Newark for a gunshot wound, said Paul Loriquet, spokesman for the Essex County prosecutor’s office. Her condition was not immediately available.
The causes of death for the other two had not yet been determined, Loriquet said.
Detectives from the Essex County Prosecutor’s Homicide Squad and Arson Task Force joined Irvington police at the scene.