The Johnson County sheriff hinted that the victims may have been related to their killer.
A man killed four people and himself in what authorities are describing as a “horrific murder spree” in Kentucky on Saturday.
Deputies discovered a man and a woman’s body in a home and then two women’s bodies while searching for the suspect, Joseph Nickell, who was also found dead, authorities said. Nickell committed suicide, according to police.
Authorities did not immediately identify the victims but a source told Heavy that the slain were Nickell’s mother, father, girlfriend, and her mother. Kentucky State Police, which is overseeing the case, did not immediately return a request for comment from Newsweek.
Keep up with this story and more by subscribing now
„This has been a horrific murder spree,“ said Johnson County Sheriff Dwayne Price in a Facebook post on Saturday night. “The lives of four innocent victims were taken.”
In another Facebook post later on Saturday, Price suggested that Nickell was related to his victims, stating, “Tonight, February, 2018, we again dealt with a multiple murder of family.”
“As officers, one of our first concerns is for the surviving family members,” he added.
A gunman killed four people and himself in a „murder spree“ on Saturday. GETTY IMAGES
Deputies responding to a call about a shooting at 3:30 p.m. in a rural home near Paintsville found two people shot dead in the kitchen, the Johnson County Sheriff’s office said in its statement. A witness alerted authorities that Nickell was responsible for the killings, giving them a description of the black Toyota Camry he drove off in.
A 911 call about the car led deputies to an apartment complex, where they found two women dead inside one of the units. Nickell was found dead there, according to Price.
No motive has been released and authorities are continuing to investigate.
„There are no words to describe the heartbreak in seeing four lives taken due to the actions of one man. I have worked in law enforcement for 34 years,” Price said. “This is one of the most disturbing acts of violence I have ever seen.
