Investigators have not determined whether the individual acted alone in shooting eight members of the Rhoden family, some of whom were asleep in bed, DeWine said.
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While residents of the county “should not panic”, they should “be careful”, said DeWine.
While deputies were responding to that call, bystanders flagged authorities down and pointed them to two more houses on the same road. “I don’t know how they’re handling this”.
“The bodies of the victims have been transferred to the Hamilton County Coroner’s Office”, the statement said. Due to the number of victims, this process is expected to last through the weekend. The dead were found at four homes, authorities said. “I don’t believe there’s any other threat to any members of the community”. Investigators say none of the deaths appeared self-inflicted.
Police have also released new details on the Pike County murders, including the frightened 911 phone call that first alerted authorities to the killings. The statement also “asks everyone to be respectful of the family of their loss at this time” but emphasized the family wants anyone with information in the case to contact authorities.
Officers are searching for the killer or killers, who are probably armed and a danger to surviving family members, Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader said Friday.
Meanwhile, a Georgia man shot dead three people and is suspected of killing two others in a spree involving his wife’s family before killing himself.
At a Friday press conference, DeWine said evidence at the scenes did not indicate any of the eight deaths were via suicide, suggesting a suspect is still at large.
Officials released recordings of two phone calls from people reporting killings at separate locations to the Pike County Sheriff’s Office.
“I’ve got some information these cops might want to know”, he told a crowd of reporters.
“The Rhoden family was targeted and we’ve talked to the family and expressed our concern”, he said. Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine says more than 30 people have been interviewed in connection with the “horrible tragedy” in Pike County, the Cincinnati Enquirer reports.
“But we’ll find them, we’ll catch them and they’ll be brought to justice”, he said. The two other child survivors were 6 months old and 3 years old.
Authorities say that some of the victims were shot in the head while they slept. They have all be offered protection.
Caller: I’m out of the house right now, I just went in hollering at him and check if he’s alright and I looked up at him and he had a gunshot wound.
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The family members were found in their homes in a rural area of OH, about 80 miles east of Cincinnati. The victims’ shaken relatives, he says, are asking roughly the same question as police: Who would do this? They want to thank all of law enforcement from Pike County and surrounding counties for their immediate response – especially sheriff Charlie Reader, the Pike County sheriff – for all of his hard work.
