Illinois Shooting Update: 5 people found shot to death in small Ill. town, suspect reportedly dead
(CBS/AP) MANCHESTER, Ill. - The suspect in the apparent shooting deaths of five people found early Wednesday in a home in a southwestern Illinois, was pronounced dead at a hospital after a shootout with police, CBS Chicago reports.
The relationship of the victims was not immediately known, but state police spokeswoman Monique Bond said they could be from the same family.
The Chicago Tribune is reporting the victims are related and included a grandmother, a young couple and two children.
According to CBS Chicago, preliminary police reports say the five victims had all been shot. A six-year-old girl survived the attack and was being treated at a local hospital, police said.
Two area school superintendents said they received calls from county sheriffs before 6 a.m. informing them that victims had been shot to death at a house in Manchester and that a suspect was at large. Some reports refer to the place where the shooting took place as an apartment.
Superintendent David Roberts of the Winchester School District and Les Stevens of the North Greene Unit District No. 3 said they both immediately canceled classes when they were told of the shootings, and that other school districts had done the same. They said the sheriff's offices later informed them that the suspect had been captured near Manchester, a Scotts County community of 300 people about 50 miles west of Springfield.
Stevens said that he was told by the sheriff's office in nearby Green County that the suspect was captured after a brief car chase that included gunfire.
Police said the suspect was injured in the chase and taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Manchester Mayor Ronald Drake, who lives a block from where the shooting occurred, said the shootings happened at about 4:30 a.m.
Roberts and Stevens said they were waiting to hear if any of the victims were children who attended schools in their districts.
More on CrimesiderApril 24, 2013 - Illinois Shooting: Five found shot to death in Manchester home, suspect in custody, police say