APPOMATTOX, Va. â Police were looking for a lone shooter who they said killed eight people Tuesday in central Virginia, then fled in the woods, violently resisting efforts to take him in and even nearly shooting down a police helicopter as it hovered over the area trying to flush him out. <img src=http://images.huffingtonpost.com/gen/134300/thumbs/s-SHOOTING-SUSPECT-large.jpg> State police said officers had the suspect, Christopher Speight, 39, circled in the woods late Tuesday near the home where seven of the bodies were found and they believed he was still alive. An eighth victim was found barely alive on the side of the road â which led to police being called â and died on the way to the hospital. All the victims were adults and both men and women were killed, state police Sgt. Thomas Molnar said. Three of the bodies were found inside the home, and four just outside it, Molnar said. Police refused to speculate on a motive and would not say what type of weapon was used. Molnar also gave no background on the suspect. The drama paralyzed the rural area as police swarmed forests trying to catch the suspect who fired at a state police helicopter, forcing it to land with a ruptured fuel tank, police said. No police were injured after one or more rounds struck the helicopter. Canine units and a National Guard helicopter with thermal imaging equipment were being used to search the woods. "They are searching the area and will continue until the suspect is apprehended," Molnar said. The violence began shortly after noon when the injured man was found on a rural stretch of road. A deputy who went to investigate fled after he heard gunshots, police spokeswoman Corrine Geller said. Story continues below "When the deputy arrived on the scene, that's when he heard several shots," Molnar said. Police did not release the victims' names or the suspect's possible relationship to them. 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 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." Appomattox is in a county of about 15,000 approximately 100 miles southwest of Richmond. It is best known as the place where Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant to end the Civil War.
Actually Lee surrendered in the village of Appomattox Court House. Three mile east of Appomattox. But then The Huff and Puff Post never let a little thing like the facts get in their way before, why start now.
Too many to keep track of... White guy goes nuts and kills a bunch of people following Obama's election...who'd have thunk it.
Weak insinuation. What we do know is that this guy should not have guns. It's too late, of course, but that's how we do it here.
The NRA says he should have had guns, they would be in favor of everyone carrying loaded machine guns, despite their mental capacity or tendencies...
Be fair, the NRA does not believe everyone should have machine guns--they would not let crazy people have them. How do we know the crazy people? They use machine guns on people.
Is the NRA promoting screening for mental illness before someone can purchase a gun? I think you know the answer to that, which reveals that the NRA will only pay lip service to this issue after some nut job goes postal... Here is a hint: The crazy people are the ones buying machine guns for "home protection."