8th body found in 'execution-style' shootings in rural Ohio

PEEBLES, Ohio — Eight people, including two teenagers, were found shot to death Friday in what officials said were "execution-style killings" at several homes in this rural Ohio community.

Seven of the victims were believed to be f-rom the same family and were found at three houses, according to a statement f-rom  Attorney General Mike DeWine and Pike County Sheriff C-harles Reader. A Pike County victim's advocate said a five-day-old child and six-month-old child were found alive in one of the homes.

Officials said the eighth body was found at a fourth location. The connection between the shooting sprees and the eighth victim was not immediately clear.

Uni-on Mill Road, which was swarming all morning with ambulances and local and state and local police, meanders through the countryside of farms, widely spaced homes near Peebles, a town of 1,800 people 75 miles east of Cincinnati.

While the official statement said no arrests had been made and that the incident was not viewed as an active shooter situation, it said investigators were still attempting to "determine a motive, identify the deceased, and determine if the gunman is among the deceased individuals or on the loose."

Phil Fulton, pastor of the Uni-on Hill church, said the victims were all f-rom the same family. He described the victims as a woman, her ex-husband, her adult children and two grandchildren. He said he received the information on victims f-rom family members and law enforcement officials. The pastor said the mother and children used to attend services at his church but hadn’t been there for some time.

Leonard Manley, who told the Cincinnati Enquirer that he is the father and grandfather of some of the victims, said his daughter discovered the bodies when she went to Uni-on Hill Road to feed dogs and chickens as part of her normal routine.

Dozens of officers f-rom the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation were sent to the scene at the request of the Pike County Sheriff’s Office.

Police quickly erected barricades to keep out traffic. Several schools in the area were placed on lockdown as a precaution.

The killings took place near the county line between Adams and Pike counties. Officers f-rom both jurisdictions responded to the call, as did officers f-rom Ross County.

The FBI office in Cincinnati tweeted it is closely monitoring the situation in Pike County and has offered its assistance.

Nealeigh reports for the Chillicothe Gazette; Stanglin reported f-rom McLean, Va.