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PIX: Eight dead as gunman goes berserk in Ohio

Last updated on: August 8, 2011 08:45 IST
Members of the Copley community hold a candlelight vigil at Copley Community Park after the shooting spree

Seven people, including an 11-year-old child, were shot and killed in a small town in northeastern Ohio in the United States on Sunday in a rampage that ended when police killed the suspected gunman, CNN reported.

The shootings occurred shortly before 11 a.m. in Copley Township, about seven miles west of Akron, according to the Copley Police Department.

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PIX: Eight dead as gunman goes berserk in Ohio

Last updated on: August 8, 2011 08:45 IST
Law enforcement officers set up a road block as investigations continue near the scene of a shooting in Copley, Ohio

According to a news release from the department, the shootings began at one house where the gunman shot his girlfriend, continued when the shooter ran to an adjacent house where he shot five people, then went on as he chased two other people "through some backyards" before hitting one.

"The shooter then went to another home ... where two other persons he had chased sought refuge. He entered the home, shot one victim and exited the home," the news release said.

At that point, a Copley police officer and a former officer who was in the area encountered the shooter who "engaged the officer and the citizen in gunfire and (the shooter) was shot and killed."

PIX: Eight dead as gunman goes berserk in Ohio

Last updated on: August 8, 2011 08:45 IST
Members of the Copley community hold a candlelight vigil at Copley Community Park after the shooting spree

A total of eight people were shot by the suspect, police said, with seven killed and one wounded. That victim was hospitalised but the person's condition was not known Sunday night, the report added.

Residents of the area where the shootings occurred held a candlelight vigil Sunday evening, the report stated.