On Friday, officials in the Appalachian region of Ohio announced that eight people had been killed execution-style, all members of the Rhoden family. The mass shooting happened over four crime scenes within miles of each other in the early hours of Friday morning.
The victims include seven adults and one teenager, and investigators believe the family was targeted. Each was shot in the head, “executed,” according to Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, and some were still in their beds. DeWine released their names on Saturday evening. Three children, ages three years, six months, and four days, were the only survivors at the crime scenes.
While work has been completed at the crime scenes, as of Saturday, DeWine said no arrests had yet been made, and the perpetrator or perpetrators may still be at large. At least 30 people have been interviewed about the incidents. Phil Fulton, a pastor at Union Hill Church, the nearby church the family previously attended, told the Washington Post that authorities believe it’s very unlikely that the shooter or shooters are among the deceased, and DeWine said on Friday that so far no evidence suggests any of the dead committed suicide, all of which points to them still being at large. A statement he and Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader released on Friday said they didn’t have any possible motives for the shootings.
“The investigation is still in its early stages, and no arrests have been made,” DeWine said in a statement released Saturday. DeWine’s office confirmed on Sunday morning that no new information has been released since then.
Ohio Governor and Republican presidential candidate John Kasich has been briefed on the shootings, and on Saturday he called the situation “a breathtaking horrible set of murders,” telling CBS’ Face the Nation that “I’m confident at the end of the day that we will find the perpetrators and justice will be delivered to them.”
Ohio’s gun laws are relatively lax, earning a D grade from the Brady Campaign in 2013.
There have been 113 mass shootings across the country so far in 2016 not counting Friday’s incidents, according to the website Mass Shooting Tracker, in which a total of 160 people have been killed.