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9 dead in Alabama shooting spree, FBI says

NINE people including the suspected gunman were killed in a shooting spree and car chase in southern Alabama yesterday, the FBI said.

The shooting began in Samson, a small town in the southeastern part of the state and ended in Geneva, Alabama, the county seat about 12 miles (20 km) away, according to the FBI and local police.

"There were nine dead," said Angela Tobon, spokeswoman for the FBI in Mobile, Alabama, the nearest large city. "He (the shooter) encountered law enforcement ... and he exchanged shots as he was shooting the entire way."

Two of the dead were the wife and child of a deputy sheriff from Geneva, according to a police officer who said eight people died.

"Five were killed in a trailer in Samson. Two more died in the Big and Little Store in Geneva. The suspect died in the Reliable store in Geneva. It is uncertain whether he killed himself or was killed by one of the sheriffs," said the officer, who declined to give her name.

"He shot at several vehicles on the highway and then he shot at Wal-Mart and Piggly Wiggly (grocery store) in Geneva," she said.

There was no indication of a motive for the shooting.

Local media reported that several people were injured during the spree.

Rural southeastern Alabama, which borders Florida, is a largely agricultural area with many low-income families. It relies partly on peanut crops.

Mass shootings have become a feature of life of the United States in recent years.

In one of the most recent incidents, a gunman dressed as Santa Claus killed nine party guests on Christmas Eve, before taking his own life in Covina, California, a suburb of Los Angeles.

On April 16, 2007, Virginia Tech, a university in Blacksburg, Virginia, became the site of the deadliest rampage in modern US history when a student gunman killed 32 people and himself.

Guns are widely available for purchase in the United States, a country that prides itself on the right to own weapons for self defense and hunting.



 

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