Officials are conducting autopsies to learn more about the circumstances surrounding the deaths of three Americans at a Sandals resort on the Bahamas' Great Exuma island Friday, according to the Bahamian police commissioner.
The pathologist "consented to doing the autopsies" Monday, Bahamas Police Commissioner Paul Rolle said, and further information would be provided when available.
The autopsy exams could help answer questions about how the three Americans — two from Tennessee and one from Florida — died over the course of one evening. A fourth American, the wife of the Floridian who died, is in good condition after she was aiirlifted to the nation's capital of Nassau for further treatment before being transferred stateside.
No signs of trauma were found on the bodies, the Royal Bahamas Police Force said in a statement to CNN, and the circumstances remain under police investigation.
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Here's what we have learned so far:
How did the situation unfold?
According to the police statement, authorities at the George Town Police Station received a call shortly after 9 a.m. Friday from staff that an unresponsive male was found in one of the resort's villas.
While enroute to the scene, police were told an additional male and female, both unresponsive, were found in another villa on the property.
Police found in the first villa a "Caucasian male lying on the ground unresponsive" with no signs of trauma. A doctor pronounced him dead, police said. The woman who was hospitalized was found with him, Rolle said Saturday.
At the second villa, they found a man "slumped against a wall in a bathroom unresponsive," and the woman was "found in a bedroom on a bed," the police statement said.
"Both showed signs of convulsion," the release said, and neither showed signs of trauma.
"The night prior, all of them had reported feeling ill," Rolle said, and "were seen by the medics." They were treated at different times and had eaten prior at different locations, he said.
When asked at a news conference how long the guests may have been dead before they were discovered, Rolle said, "They were seen by the doctor the night before, and that would have been around 11, and they were discovered the next morning. So, we have the timeline ... between 11 p.m. and 8:30 to 9 a.m."

Officials are conducting autopsies to learn more about the circumstances surrounding the deaths of three Americans at a Sandals resort on the Bahamas' Great Exuma island, according to the Bahamian police commissioner.
Who are the victims?
Husband Michael Phillips, 68, and wife Robbie Phillips, 65, were identified by authorities as the couple from Tennessee who died at the resort.
Vincent Paul Chiarella, 64, from Florida, was the third individual found deceased.
His wife, Donnis, 65, has since been transferred from Nassau to Miami's Kendall Hospital and is in good condition, according to Jennifer Guerrieri, a spokesperson for Hospital Corporation of America's east Florida division.
Their son, Austin Chiarella, told ABC News his mother "woke up and my dad was laying there on the floor, and she couldn't move. Her legs and arms was swollen and she couldn't move and she screamed to get someone to come in the door."
Donnis Chiarella told her son she became ill Thursday but after she was released from a clinic, she "thought she was alright," according to ABC.
He said he was heartbroken over his father's death. "My dad was everything to me," he told ABC.
CNN's efforts to reach Austin Chiarella have been unsuccessful.
The Phillips' daughter, Caroline Phillips Fortenberry, sent CNN a statement Monday.
"Our hearts are grieving and broken but full of hope," she wrote. "We know our mom and dad are experiencing fullness of joy in our heavenly Father's presence. We already miss them terribly. Our parents left a legacy of faith in Jesus and generously loved their family and friends."
Authorities are working on plans to repatriate the bodies of the deceased, and arrangements have been made to hand over their belongings to their representatives in the US, Rolle said.
Where does the investigation stand?
Foul play is not suspected in Friday's deaths, Bahamian acting Prime Minister Chester Cooper has said.
Rolle declined to answer specific questions from reporters Monday about whether authorities are pursing specific leads, only saying several samples have been collected from the premises and their forensic examination should help determine if any chemicals were present.
A lab in Philadelphia assisting with toxicological examinations in conjunction with Bahamian pathologists and results could be available within seven days, according to Rolle.
The Department of Environmental Health Services was still on scene at the resort Monday, Rolle said.
The US State Department said in a news release, "We are closely monitoring local authorities' investigation into the cause of death. We stand ready to provide all appropriate consular assistance."
Sandals Resorts said in a statement to CNN Saturday, "Nothing is more important to Sandals Resorts than the safety of our guests," and expressed "deep sadness" confirming the deaths.
The resort was working to "support both the investigation as well as the guests' families in every way possible," but could not disclose further information "out of respect for the privacy of our guests," according to the statement.
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Counties with the most gun deaths
Counties With the Most Gun Deaths

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Over the past few years, the U.S. has seen sharply increasing levels of violent crime. After two decades of decreases beginning in the mid-1990s, incidents have begun to rise again. Within the last two years, the trend has become especially pronounced. FBI data recently showed a 5.6% increase in violent crime from 2019 to 2020, even as rates of property crime continued to decline. In the same year, the murder rate rose by around 30%, one of the largest year-over-year increases on record.
Guns are closely tied to this trend in the U.S. The U.S. has the highest rate of civilian gun ownership of any country, and researchers have found the prevalence of guns to be associated with greater amounts of violent crime and gun deaths generally. Given these dynamics, it is unsurprising to see that gun-related deaths have spiked in recent years during the broader increase in violent crime.
Recent data from the CDC reveals how this trend has played out. In 2014, there were only 3.5 gun-related homicides per 100,000 population. By 2016, that figure increased to 4.6, and in 2020, it jumped to 6.2. Separately, gun-related suicides have also increased in recent years—from a low of 5.5 per 100,000 population in 2006 to 7.0 in 2020—but this increase has been more gradual.
The rates of gun related homicides _ suicides are rising 1

In total, 45,221 deaths in 2020 were gun-related, which is a 14% increase over the prior year and a 43% increase over a decade before. These gun-related deaths constitute a majority of both homicides and suicides. Over the past three years, more than three in four U.S. homicides (76.4%) involved a gun, while more than half of suicides (51.2%) were gun-related.
More than 75_ of homicides _ 50_ of suicides involve a gun 1

While the overall growth of gun-related deaths is a nationwide issue, some locations are more affected than others. Many of the states with the highest rates of gun-related deaths are states that also have the highest rates of gun ownership. These states include locations in the South and Mountain West, along with Alaska. Mississippi leads the nation in gun-related fatalities per 100,000 residents at 28.6, followed by neighboring Louisiana at 26.3 and Wyoming at 25.9. At the other end of the spectrum, Hawaii has the lowest rate of gun-related fatalities at 3.4 per 100,000 residents, followed by a group of Northeastern states including Massachusetts (3.7) and New Jersey (5.0). However, gun ownership is not a perfect predictor of gun deaths: for example, states like New Hampshire and Maine have relatively high levels of gun prevalence, but are also in the bottom 10 states for gun deaths per capita.
Mississippi _ Louisiana have the highest rates of gun related deaths 1

Gun-related deaths are also unevenly distributed at the local level. While some of the Southern and Western states with higher levels of gun fatalities do have counties with similarly high levels of gun deaths, many of the top counties are found in Rust Belt locations like Philadelphia, Indianapolis, and Detroit. These more economically distressed locations may have greater levels of gun violence due to the relationship between factors like social mobility and income inequality and gun deaths.
The data used in this analysis is from the CDC’s WONDER Database. To identify the locations with the most gun deaths, researchers at BackgroundChecks.org calculated the rates of gun-related deaths per 100,000 residents in 2020. In the event of a tie, the location with the greater total number of gun-related deaths in 2020 was ranked higher. To provide additional context, researchers also calculated the proportion of all homicides and suicides that involve a gun, using data from 2018–2020.
Here are the counties with the most gun deaths.
Small _ midsize counties with the highest rates of gun deaths 1

15. DeKalb County, GA

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- Total gun-related deaths per 100k: 19.0
- Total gun-related deaths: 145
- Change in gun-related deaths since 2019: -15.2%
- Gun-related homicides as a share of total homicides: 87.1%
- Gun-related suicides as a share of total suicides: 57.3%
14. Hamilton County, OH

Photo Credit: Rudy Balasko / Shutterstock
- Total gun-related deaths per 100k: 19.4
- Total gun-related deaths: 159
- Change in gun-related deaths since 2019: +23.3%
- Gun-related homicides as a share of total homicides: 85.9%
- Gun-related suicides as a share of total suicides: 51.6%
13. Pima County, AZ

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- Total gun-related deaths per 100k: 19.5
- Total gun-related deaths: 207
- Change in gun-related deaths since 2019: +1.5%
- Gun-related homicides as a share of total homicides: 69.4%
- Gun-related suicides as a share of total suicides: 60.7%
12. Cook County, IL

Photo Credit: Jonathan Siegel / Shutterstock
- Total gun-related deaths per 100k: 20.4
- Total gun-related deaths: 1,040
- Change in gun-related deaths since 2019: +45.7%
- Gun-related homicides as a share of total homicides: 87.2%
- Gun-related suicides as a share of total suicides: 33.5%
11. Fulton County, GA

Photo Credit: Luciano Mortula – LGM / Shutterstock
- Total gun-related deaths per 100k: 21.4
- Total gun-related deaths: 231
- Change in gun-related deaths since 2019: +29.1%
- Gun-related homicides as a share of total homicides: 83.1%
- Gun-related suicides as a share of total suicides: 51.1%
10. Oklahoma County, OK

Photo Credit: Nick Fox / Shutterstock
- Total gun-related deaths per 100k: 23.1
- Total gun-related deaths: 186
- Change in gun-related deaths since 2019: +0.5%
- Gun-related homicides as a share of total homicides: 79.0%
- Gun-related suicides as a share of total suicides: 58.2%
9. Cuyahoga County, OH

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- Total gun-related deaths per 100k: 24.3
- Total gun-related deaths: 298
- Change in gun-related deaths since 2019: +29.6%
- Gun-related homicides as a share of total homicides: 82.1%
- Gun-related suicides as a share of total suicides: 48.6%
8. Milwaukee County, WI

Photo Credit: Paul Brady Photography / Shutterstock
- Total gun-related deaths per 100k: 25.6
- Total gun-related deaths: 242
- Change in gun-related deaths since 2019: +69.2%
- Gun-related homicides as a share of total homicides: 82.3%
- Gun-related suicides as a share of total suicides: 42.3%
7. Duval County, FL

Photo Credit: CHARLES MORRA / Shutterstock
- Total gun-related deaths per 100k: 25.6
- Total gun-related deaths: 247
- Change in gun-related deaths since 2019: +14.4%
- Gun-related homicides as a share of total homicides: 83.1%
- Gun-related suicides as a share of total suicides: 56.6%
6. Wayne County, MI

Photo Credit: Sergey Novikov / Shutterstock
- Total gun-related deaths per 100k: 26.3
- Total gun-related deaths: 458
- Change in gun-related deaths since 2019: +30.9%
- Gun-related homicides as a share of total homicides: 86.2%
- Gun-related suicides as a share of total suicides: 51.8%
5. St. Louis County, MO

Photo Credit: Rudy Balasko / Shutterstock
- Total gun-related deaths per 100k: 26.4
- Total gun-related deaths: 262
- Change in gun-related deaths since 2019: +15.9%
- Gun-related homicides as a share of total homicides: 90.8%
- Gun-related suicides as a share of total suicides: 51.9%
4. Jefferson County, KY

Photo Credit: Jonny Trego / Shutterstock
- Total gun-related deaths per 100k: 31.0
- Total gun-related deaths: 238
- Change in gun-related deaths since 2019: +65.3%
- Gun-related homicides as a share of total homicides: 89.2%
- Gun-related suicides as a share of total suicides: 53.0%
3. Marion County, IN

Photo Credit: Rudy Balasko / Shutterstock
- Total gun-related deaths per 100k: 32.8
- Total gun-related deaths: 317
- Change in gun-related deaths since 2019: +46.1%
- Gun-related homicides as a share of total homicides: 85.2%
- Gun-related suicides as a share of total suicides: 58.0%
2. Philadelphia County, PA

Photo Credit: Sean Pavone / Shutterstock
- Total gun-related deaths per 100k: 34.1
- Total gun-related deaths: 538
- Change in gun-related deaths since 2019: +46.6%
- Gun-related homicides as a share of total homicides: 86.8%
- Gun-related suicides as a share of total suicides: 38.1%
1. Shelby County, TN

Photo Credit: The Speedy Butterfly / Shutterstock
- Total gun-related deaths per 100k: 40.6
- Total gun-related deaths: 380
- Change in gun-related deaths since 2019: +36.7%
- Gun-related homicides as a share of total homicides: 91.5%
- Gun-related suicides as a share of total suicides: 64.0%
CNN's Ray Sanchez, Carlos Suarez, Caroll Alvarado, Sara Smart, Hira Humayun, Jason Hanna, Theresa Waldrop, Rebekah Riess, Eliott C. McLaughlin, Steve Almasy, Sarah Jorgensen and Susannah Cullinane contributed to this report.