Police on Wednesday arrested a man suspected of shooting to death eight people in the southern state of Virginia.
The suspect, Christopher Speight, 39, surrendered without incident to police after he was cornered in woods west of the historic town of Appomattox, a police statement said.
“At 7:10 this morning, Christopher B. Speight walked in the security perimeter and turned himself in without incident. Charges are pending. He was taken into custody and is being debriefed,” the statement said.
Speight was wearing a bullet-proof vest, but was unarmed, it added.
Police had launched a massive manhunt in central Virginia after discovering seven bodies at a rural home and another victim nearby.
More than 100 sheriff department deputies, police officers and state troopers worked through the night to find Speight, cordoning off a section of the woods where he was hiding.
The suspect fired at a helicopter called in to aid with the search. At least four shots hit the craft forcing it to make an emergency landing, officials said.
The incident began unfolding around noon on Tuesday when a deputy from the Appomattox sheriff’s office responded to an emergency call about an injured man lying on a country road.
“When the deputy arrived on scene, the deputy heard several gun shots,” Molnar said.
“The male subject was transported by Med-Flight State Police helicopter to Lynchburg General Hospital, where the man later died,” police said.
Officers found four bodies outside a nearby home and “three bodies inside the residence.”
The victims were male and female, said police, who did not give a motive for the attack, although local media reported the wife and the son of the suspect were among the dead.
Police said Speight knew his victims and lived in the house where the shooting took place. He was also a co-owner of the house and its adjacent land.
After Speight’s arrest, police said they searched the property and found explosive devices around the house.
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