http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,583389,00.html
Virginia Authorities Charge Shooting Suspect With First-Degree Murder
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Virginia authorities have charged Christopher Speight, the man suspected of killing eight people, with first-degree murder.
Bomb technicians also discovered a "multitude" of explosives Wednesday at the Virginia home where the victims were found, authorities said.
Police allege that Christopher Speight, who surrendered to authorities at approximately 7:10 a.m. Wednesday, fatally shot eight people at the house in Appomattox County, Va., and forced down a police helicopter after shooting its fuel tank.
Police found three bodies inside the home and four other victims outside. Another man found injured along a nearby roadway later died.
The victims were four adults, three teens and a 4-year-old. They are: 16-year-old Ronald Scruggs; 15-year-old Emily Quarles; 43-year-old Karen and Jonathan Quarles; 38-year-old Dwayne and Lauralee Sipe; 15-year-old Morgan Dobyns; and 4-year-old Joshua Sipe.
State police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said Speight, 39, was "acquainted" with the victims, but did not release their names or the suspect's possible relationship to them.
"The next step is to confirm the identity of the victims," she said.
Speight, who was wearing a bullet-proof vest when he surrendered to police, was transported to Appomattox County Jail, Geller added. He was not carrying any weapons when taken into custody Wednesday.
Investigators used dogs and heat-sensing equipment to search overnight for Speight in a wooded area in the rural region about 100 miles southwest of Richmond.
Local officials agreed to close four schools that serve about 2,000 students as a precaution.
Geller called Tuesday's massacre "one of the worst mass killings" in the state since 2007 — when 32 people were killed during a shooting rampage on the campus of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va.
The drama unfolded around noon on Tuesday when a victim was spotted barely alive along the side of a narrow, undivided country road.
A deputy who answered the emergency call heard gunshots and soon the area about 3 miles from the state police district headquarters was filled with law enforcement from nearby municipalities, with more than 100 responding. The injured man died on the way to the hospital, said state police Sgt. Thomas Molnar.
Earlier, as teams tried to catch the gunman, he fired at the helicopter trying to flush him out, police said. One or more rounds struck the helicopter, forcing it down, but no police were injured.
Police refused to speculate on a motive. Molnar gave no background on the suspect, saying not much was known about him.
Speight was not listed as an offender on the Virginia Department of Corrections Web site and a search for his name on the Appomattox County courts site came up with no matches.
The county contains about 15,000 residents and is best known as the place where Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant to end the Civil War.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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