Schools close, police look for suspect in 8 deaths

[February 04, 2010]  APPOMATTOX, Va. (AP) -- Schools were ordered closed in a rural Virginia county as police searched early Wednesday for a gunman they believe killed eight people found at a nearby home and forced down a police helicopter by shooting its fuel tank.

Investigators used dogs and heat-sensing equipment to search overnight for Christopher Speight, 39, in a wooded area in Appomattox County, about 100 miles southwest of Richmond, State Police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said.

Authorities said Speight was acquainted with the victims, but details of the relationships weren't released. Sheriff O. Wilson Staples said investigators believe Speight had weapons training based on the weapons found in his home, but he declined to elaborate.

Local officials agreed to close four schools that serve about 2,000 students as authorities narrowed their search to a 2-mile stretch of heavily wooded terrain, Staples said.

"We don't have any reason to believe at the present time he's not inside that (perimeter)," Staples said during a morning news conference.

Police found three bodies inside a rural home Tuesday and four other victims lying outside. Another man found injured along a nearby roadway later died.

Geller said state, local and federal authorities rotated shifts to maintain a constant security presence in the area overnight, and expected "to put forth more aggressive efforts, both on the ground and in the air" during the day.

The drama began around noon Tuesday when a victim was spotted barely alive along the side of a narrow country road.

A deputy who answered the emergency call heard more gunshots and soon the area just about 3 miles from the state police district headquarters was filled with law enforcement from all over, with more than 100 responding. The injured man died on the way to the hospital, said state police Sgt. Thomas Molnar.

Earlier, as teams tried to catch the gunman, he fired at the helicopter trying to flush him out, police said. One or more rounds struck the helicopter, forcing it down, but no police were injured.

Police refused to speculate on a motive. Molnar gave no background on the suspect, saying not much was known about him. Speight's last known address was along the block lined with modest ranch and Cape Cod-style homes where the shootings occurred, but Molnar did not know if the suspect was still living there.

Police have not released the victims' names. All the victims were adults and both men and women were killed, Molnar said.

He would not say if all the victims were shot at the home where most of the bodies were found. He also would not say whether the shootings happened at Speight's address or another house.

A Google map search shows the area of the shootings was thick with trees, sometimes giving way to large clearings, which look to be farm fields. Buildings were spread out along the mostly flat area. Police said they are also looking for a car and a pickup truck that belonged to Speight.

Speight was not listed as an offender on the Virginia Department of Corrections Web site and a search for his name on the Appomattox County courts site came up with no matches.

Speight's address was included in online real estate listings posted last year. They say the wooden house had three bedrooms and three bathrooms and sat on 34 acres. One online listing said homes in the area sell for about $189,000.

Appomattox is in a county of about 15,000, best known as the place where Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant to end the Civil War.

After the shootings, authorities told nearby residents to stay inside and a small Christian school was locked down until state police could escort about 60 children from the building.

Resident Bethel Hawkins said Tuesday that police warned families to lock their doors in an area with many senior citizens.

"We're just being cautious, keeping our doors locked, not going outside," said Hawkins, who lives about 2 miles up the road from where the shootings occurred. "Our church service is supposed to be tonight, but we talked with our pastor and told him we're not coming out. We're not going out in the dark not knowing what's out there. But we trust in the Lord to take care of us."

[Associated Press; By LARRY O'DELL]

Associated Press writers Dena Potter in Appomattox, Bob Lewis in Richmond and John Raby in Charleston, W. Va., contributed to this report.

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.