METAIRIE — Three people were found shot and killed Wednesday at a homeless encampment in a wooded area behind a neighborhood. 

The Jefferson Parish sheriff Joe Lopinto told WWL-TV the tents behind the Jefferson Parish neighborhood had been there for a while, but the killings appeared recent. The scene is just southwest of where Earhart Expressway crosses Causeway Boulevard. 

Lopinto did not give the identities of the victims, but his agency said the dead included two women and one man. 

A nearby resident told WWL she was shocked to hear the news. She told the station the neighborhood is very quiet, and she was not aware of the encampment before Wednesday.