RCMP found the bodies of four people from the same family in this farmhouse near Smith, Alta., on Sunday. (Gareth Hampshire/CBC)

The four people whose bodies were discovered Sunday in Smith, Alta., died as a result of a triple murder-suicide, RCMP confirmed Wednesday.

The four victims, whom people in Smith have identified as a school-age girl, her mother, and her grandfather and grandmother, died from gunshot wounds, RCMP said in a news release.

One of the four died as a result of a single, self-inflicted gunshot wound. The other three sustained multiple gunshot injuries.

"Investigators remain confident that the person responsible for all four deaths is among the four deceased," the news release said. "In consultation with the medical examiner this is now being classified as a triple murder-suicide."

The medical examiner and RCMP have confirmed the identities of two individuals. They are trying to confirm the identities of the other two and are still trying to reach all family members. The RCMP will not formally identify the dead or confirm who was responsible for the deaths until then.

Autopsies on the four dead started on Tuesday afternoon. While RCMP acknowledged from the start that they weren't looking for any suspects in the slayings, they were reluctant to call the deaths a murder-suicide until the post-mortems were completed.

Smith is about 200 kilometres north of Edmonton.