Virginia shooter surrenders
Source: Agencies |
January 21, 2010, Thursday
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A MAN suspected of shooting eight people to death at a rural American home and then firing at a police helicopter surrendered early yesterday after an overnight manhunt, Virginia State Police said.
Sergeant Thomas Molnar said 39-year-old Christopher Speight approached officers at the scene of the shootings and turned himself in at about 7:10am.
Speight was being taken to an undisclosed location to be interviewed, Molnar said. Charges were pending. Authorities said Speight was acquainted with the victims, but details of the relationships weren't released. Police were still working to positively identify the victims and notify their families.
Molnar didn't know whether Speight was armed when he surrendered.
Speight's last known address was along the block where the shootings happened, but Molnar would not say whether the shootings happened at that address or another house.
The drama began around noon on Tuesday when a man was spotted barely alive along the side of a narrow country road. The man died on the way to the hospital.
A deputy who answered the emergency call heard more gunshots, and seven other men and women were found dead inside and outside a nearby home.
Police surrounded a stretch of heavily wooded terrain overnight. As teams tried to flush out the gunman, he fired at a police helicopter and hit a fuel tank, forcing it to land. No police were injured.
Sheriff Wilson Staples said investigators believe Speight had weapons training based on the weapons found in his home, but he declined to elaborate.
The search had paralyzed the rural area near Appomattox, best known as the place where Confederate General Robert E Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses S Grant in 1865 to end the US Civil War. Four nearby schools serving about 2,000 students had planned to stay closed for the day before Speight surrendered.
Sergeant Thomas Molnar said 39-year-old Christopher Speight approached officers at the scene of the shootings and turned himself in at about 7:10am.
Speight was being taken to an undisclosed location to be interviewed, Molnar said. Charges were pending. Authorities said Speight was acquainted with the victims, but details of the relationships weren't released. Police were still working to positively identify the victims and notify their families.
Molnar didn't know whether Speight was armed when he surrendered.
Speight's last known address was along the block where the shootings happened, but Molnar would not say whether the shootings happened at that address or another house.
The drama began around noon on Tuesday when a man was spotted barely alive along the side of a narrow country road. The man died on the way to the hospital.
A deputy who answered the emergency call heard more gunshots, and seven other men and women were found dead inside and outside a nearby home.
Police surrounded a stretch of heavily wooded terrain overnight. As teams tried to flush out the gunman, he fired at a police helicopter and hit a fuel tank, forcing it to land. No police were injured.
Sheriff Wilson Staples said investigators believe Speight had weapons training based on the weapons found in his home, but he declined to elaborate.
The search had paralyzed the rural area near Appomattox, best known as the place where Confederate General Robert E Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses S Grant in 1865 to end the US Civil War. Four nearby schools serving about 2,000 students had planned to stay closed for the day before Speight surrendered.
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