Gunman among six found dead at Ohio farmhouses

Six people were found shot dead and a seventh was in a critical condition following a multiple murder-suicide in two neighbouring farmhouses near the west-central Ohio town of Bellefontaine, authorities said.

Three of those found dead on Sunday morning were teenagers, including two who were about to graduate from high school.

Sheriff Michael Henry identified the dead as Sharyl Shafer, 66, and Gary Shafer, 67, who were found dead in one farmhouse, and Sheri Shafer, 37, Scott Moody, 18, Megan Karus, 19, and Paige Harshbarger, 14, found in the other home along with the wounded survivor, 15-year-old Stacy Moody.

A preliminary investigation indicated Scott Moody was the gunman, Henry told The Columbus Dispatch newspaper.

Henry said Stacy Moody called a friend on her mobile phone and the friend then called authorities on Sunday morning. Stacy was in a critical condition early today at Ohio State University Medical Centre in Columbus.

The sheriff did not provide details about the relationship among the victims. All were from the Bellefontaine area, an investigator said.

Investigators found several guns at the scene, Henry said, including a rifle inside the house where the four bodies were found. He wouldn’t say whether the rifle was the weapon used in the shootings.

Scott Moody and Karus were to have graduated on Sunday afternoon from Riverside High School in nearby De Graff, the sheriff’s office said.

The two farmhouses are about a quarter of a mile apart along a two-lane state route northwest of Columbus, and the same family owns both, authorities said. Fields where corn and soybeans are grown surround the white-panelled, two-storey homes, each of which was marked by a “no trespassing” sign.

The sheriff said officers had received 10 nuisance calls concerning that house, though he did not provide specifics about those complaints.

Detectives were interviewing friends and family members of the victims. “I’ve being doing this for 35 years and I’ve never seen anything like this,” Logan County Sheriff’s Lt. Chuck Stout said.

People in the community of 13,000 drifted in and out of the sheriff’s office, hugging and crying, throughout the afternoon. One woman nearly collapsed moments after arriving and speaking with people at the office.

“Dealing with a small community like this, everyone knows everyone,” the sheriff said.