13 killed in two US shootings
Jess Grimm/Twitter
A newborn baby has been left orphaned after its mother was killed in a targeted attack on the family.
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Thirteen people have been killed in separate mass shootings in two US states within 24 hours.
Police are continuing to hunt for the killer after eight members of the same family were shot to death at four locations in rural southern Ohio on Friday morning.
In rural Georgia, a man who shot and killed five people during two separate attacks as part of a domestic dispute was found dead in his home early Saturday.
Authorities in Ohio have warned surviving relatives of the slain and local residents to be careful and said the killer should be considered armed and dangerous.
Three children, aged four days to three years, survived the grisly killings that left seven adults and a 16-year-old boy dead, said Attorney-General Mike DeWine and Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader at an afternoon news conference.
DeWine said it was possible more than one person was involved in the homicides.
Some of the victims were in bed, indicating they were shot while they were sleeping, authorities said. The victims were identified as members of the Rhoden family.
"It's heartbreaking," DeWine said. "The one mum was killed in her bed with the four-day-old right there."
A motive isn't clear, authorities said.
A dozen Bureau of Criminal Investigation agents were called on Friday morning to Pike County, an economically struggling area in the Appalachian region 130km east of Cincinnati.
The FBI in Cincinnati also said it was closely monitoring the situation and had offered assistance if needed.
Meanwhile, the body of suspect Wayne Anthony Hawes, 50, was recovered on Saturday by authorities in his home in Appling, northeastern Georgia, Columbia County Sheriff Captain Andy Shedd said.
Shedd said the Friday night shootings stemmed from a domestic dispute that left three men and two women dead.
Sheriff deputies responded to a home and discovered three victims. Shortly after, they attended a second scene where a man and a woman were also found dead.
The victims have been identified as Roosevelt Burns, 75, Rheva Mae Dent, 85, Kelia Clark, 31, Lizzy Williams, 59, and Shelly Williams, 62.
Hawes knew the victims, Shedd said.
- AAP
