Todd West, 22, of Elizabeth, New Jersey was arrested this week in
Pennsylvania, where he is charged with killing two people in
Allentown and one in Easton, officials said.
The violence began in New Jersey on May 18, when West is accused of
killing his cousin, Michael Thompkins, in Elizabeth, the Union
County Prosecutor's office said in a news release on Thursday.
On June 25, West shot four people across the city of Elizabeth,
about 20 miles from New York City, prosecutors said. All were shot
with the same .38 caliber weapon, the release said. Three died and
one survived.
After the shooting spree, West fled to Pennsylvania where he is
charged with killing three more people before a manhunt led to his
arrest, law enforcement said.
There is no known motive for the shootings, authorities said. They
do not appear to be gang-related or spurred by drugs or robbery,
Grace Park, the acting Union County prosecutor, said on Thursday,
according to the New York Times.
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West is being held in a Lehigh County jail in Pennsylvania without
bail. It was unclear whether he had hired an attorney or been
assigned a public defender.
(Reporting by Victoria Cavaliere in Los Angeles,; editing by Larry
King)
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