The victims were seven adults and one 16-year-old found in three homes on the same road.
Some of the victims appeared to have been killed in their sleep early this morning and were found shot to death in their beds, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said at a news conference on Friday afternoon.
One of the victims, a new mother who was sleeping in bed with her 4-day-old baby was shot in the head and killed.
DeWine said that while residents of the county "should not panic," they should "be careful."
At a news conference Friday night, DeWine noted that authorities have interviewed more than 30 people, though he declined to characterize any of them as "persons of interest."
“So obviously we have one person … who is armed and dangerous,” the attorney general said. “And there may be more than one. There may be two. There may be three. We just don’t know at this point.”
He said every precaution would be taken to protect other members of the victims’ family.
“It’s heartbreaking,” said DeWine, whose office sent more than 30 investigators to the crime scenes. “This is a horrible tragedy.” Three small children, including the 4-day-old baby, survived. DeWine said the baby was asleep in bed with its mother when the mother was killed.
“There are different theories that we’re looking at," DeWine said, noting that investigators are still working the crime scene".
The eighth victim, an adult, was found later than the other victims at a fourth location in Piketon, officials said.
 |
| Police at scene of the crime which saw 8 family members terribly killed in Ohio. |
Three children in the homes, the 4-day-old baby, a 6-month-old baby and a 3-year-old were found alive at the crime scenes.
The Police are still working on positively identifying each of the deceased individually and notifying their next-of-kin.
No arrests have been made yet.
Source: ABC News