Pike County: Eight family members killed, gunman remains at large in Ohio
Police are still searching for the gunman responsible for the shootings on Friday.
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.At least eight family members are dead, including seven adults and one 16-year-old, after a series of “execution-style” shootings across a rural town in Ohio. Police believe at least one suspect is still at large.
Police said that the killings took place at four separate homes across Pike County on Friday. Three children survived the shootings, including a 4-day-old newborn, who was sleeping near its dead mother.
“This is a horrible, horrible tragedy," Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine told reporters at press conference, adding that it appeared the Rhoden family was specifically targeted.
"Obviously we have one person who is armed and dangerous and there may be more, two or three," Attorney General DeWine said. "We don't really know how many people we are talking about.”
Phil Fulton, pastor of the nearby Union Hill Community Church, said that the mother and children previously attended church services at his house of worship.
“It was a mother, her former husband, their grown children and some grandchildren too. They all used to attend our church,” he told reporters.
The mother worked at a nursing home for the elderly, he said. She had just bought a new mobile home near the two existing trailers occupied by her ex-husband and her son, Fulton said. All three trailers are less than a mile apart on Union Mill Road, near Peebles, a town of nearly 2,000 people just 80 miles east of Cincinnati.
Ohio Governor John Kasich called the reports “tragic beyond comprehension.”
The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is assisting the Pike County Sheriff’s Office in the ongoing investigation. Cincinnati’s FBI office also announced that it was closely monitoring the situation.
No arrests or motives were clear by late afternoon.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.