Police say they found a “multitude” of bombs at the Appomattox, Va., home of a man accused of shooting eight people to death.
Christopher Bryan Speight surrendered to police around 7 a.m. Wednesday after an all-night search for the 39-year-old in a densely wooded area in southwestern Virginia.
Authorities said Speight co-owned a house where on Tuesday three bodies were found inside and four outside. An eighth person was found on a road leading to the house but later died at the hospital. Police said they’re not yet sure of Speight’s relationship to the victims, and authorities are not releasing information yet regarding conversations investigators have had with the alleged shooter.
Police were called to Speight’s house around noon Tuesday after receiving an emergency call about a wounded man on the side of the road. A deputy who answered the call heard more gunshots and called for backup.
More than 100 law enforcement officers quickly responded to the area to search for the gunman. At one point during the chase, authorities say Speight fired at a police helicopter, hitting the gas tank and causing the helicopter to land. No one in the helicopter was injured.
The shooting incident and ensuing manhunt caused law enforcement officials to lock down nearby schools and sent panic through the quiet, rural area best known for Gen. Robert E. Lee’s surrender that brought an end to the Civil War.
Bomb technicians and bomb-sniffing dogs were sent to the house Wednesday because authorities said they had reason to believe bombs might have been planted there. Once there, police say they found explosive devices and then began to detonate them. There was no indication any of the bombs exploded on their own.
Speight, police said, had a high-powered rifle, and they believe he had weapons training based on other weapons found in the house. His uncle, reached by the Associated Press in Tampa, Fla., said Speight was a deer hunter, but didn’t believe Speight had specialized weapons training. He added that he hadn’t seen his nephew since 2006 when they both attended a funeral for Speight’s mother.
“This is a horrific tragedy,” police spokeswoman Corrine Geller said Wednesday. “It’s definitely one of the worst mass killings in Virginia, probably since the Virginia Tech tragedy in April 2007.”
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
