Extensive bomb haul at US gunman's home

Bomb squad police were detonating a huge explosives haul today at the home of a man accused of shooting dead eight people in Virginia's worst mass killing incident since 2007.

Security guard Christopher Speight, 39, gave himself up yesterday morning after leading police on an 18-hour manhunt following the killings at a house in rural Appomattox, 100 miles south west of Richmond, where deputies found a fatally-wounded man and seven bodies.

Authorities said today the victims were four adults, three teenagers and a boy aged just four.

They were identified as 16-year-old Ronald Scruggs; 15-year-old Emily Quarles; 43-year-old Karen and Jonathan Quarles; 38-year-old Dwayne and Lauralee Sipe; 15-year-old Morgan Dobyns; and Joshua Sipe, four.

Police said Speight knew all the victims and had lived at the home where the massacre occurred, but they would not reveal the victims' relationships or discuss a motive.

By early today, bomb squads had detonated seven explosives and the blasting was expected to continue throughout the day.

Speight was unarmed when he surrendered at the house. He was wearing a bulletproof vest over a black fleece jacket, camouflage trousers and mud-caked boots.

Neither the sheriff nor the state police would disclose what he said when he gave himself up.

"This is a horrific tragedy," state police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said. "It's definitely one of the worst mass killings in Virginia, probably since the Virginia Tech tragedy (in April 2007)."

Speight was initially being held on one charge of first-degree murder, Lt JD Baker of the Lynchburg Adult Detention Centre said today.

Speight co-owned and lived in the two-storey home where some of the bodies were found. Reporters were allowed to see it yesterday.

The house had a big patio, where there was furniture, a children's bicycle and a plastic basketball hoop. The garden was landscaped and well-looked after.

Neighbour Monte Mays said Speight's mother signed over the house to Speight and his sister in 2006, shortly before she died of brain cancer.

Mr Mays, the county's retired commissioner of accounts, said Speight was a good neighbour. They waved as they passed each other on the road and sent their dogs out to play with one another.

Speight had long been a gun enthusiast and enjoyed target shooting at a range on his property, Mr Mays said. But the shooting recently became a daily occurrence, with Speight firing what Mr Mays said were high-powered rifles.

"Then we noticed he was doing it at night-time", and the gunfire started going deeper into the woods, he said.

Mr Mays said the community was devastated and wondering what triggered the killings.

"The only one who's going to know now is Chris," he said.

David Anderson, co-owner of the Sunshine Market grocery store in Lynchburg, where Speight sometimes provided security, said Speight was worried that his sister and brother-in-law wanted to kick him out of the house.

Speight never wanted to talk about it, but "constantly paced the floor", Mr Anderson said. "I thought he was going to wear a trench in it."

Clarence Reynolds, who also works at the market, said Speight was not married and had no children.

Police were alerted to the bloodbath on Tuesday when they found the wounded man on the side of a road. Then sheriff's deputies discovered seven more bodies - three inside the house and four just outside.

When officers converged on the area, the gunman fired at a state police helicopter, rupturing its fuel tank and forcing it to land.

But the shots had revealed his location and more than 100 police swarmed into the woods until Speight gave up the following morning.

Speight's uncle, Jack Giglio, of Tampa, Florida, said his nephew was a deer hunter, but as far as he knew did not have any specialised weapons training.

Mr Giglio said he had not seen Speight since 2006, when both attended the funeral of Speight's mother.

"We're shocked, of course," Mr Giglio said. "I'm not aware of any problems with him. It's kind of out of the blue. We're still trying to pick up facts, too."

Appomattox County court records show a concealed weapons permit was issued to a Christopher Bryan Speight three times between 1999 and last year.

The county's four schools were closed yesterday, the high school flag at half-mast. Administrators said they would bring in grief counsellors.

Schools superintendent Dorinda Grasty said officials "anticipate that there will be students from our division that were involved".