Authorities in Ohio reportedly detained at least one “person of interest” late Friday after police revealed details about a brutal string of shootings in four homes that killed a total of eight family members.
(FOX)- Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine admitted to the Chillicothe Gazette the person was one of 30 people interviewed in the case. Some of those questioned were from Chillicothe, some 40 miles northeast of where the shootings took place in Piketon.
DeWine told reporters earlier Friday that eight relatives – seven adults and a 16-year-old boy – were apparently shot in the head “execution-style.”
Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader said at least three young children survived. One was 4 days old, one was 6 months old, and the third was 3 years old. The youngest baby was found dead in bed next to the child’s dead mother.
“My heart goes out to my county,” Reader said.
DeWine said the family’s last name was Rhoden, but did not give first names. “If I was a member of that family, I would be extra cautious right now,” the attorney general added.
Reader later told a late night news conference he had spoken with the family and gave them “precautionary measures to take.”
Asked if he had a message for the killer or killers, Reader replied, “we’re coming.”
Investigators said it was possible more than one shooter attacked the family because the homes were spread out roughly a mile and a half apart. Three of the four homes were on the same street in Piketon.
Officials said a preliminary investigation revealed that none of the eight killings were by suicide.