Gunman Kills 5 In Small Illinois Town

[News_Editor]

Gunman Kills 5 In Small Illinois Town

MANCHESTER, ILLINOIS (BNO NEWS) -- Five people were killed Wednesday and a young girl was critically injured when a gunman opened fire after breaking into their home in a small Illinois town, state police said. The suspected gunman was later killed in a shootout after a brief pursuit.

Illinois State Police Lieutenant Colonel Todd Kilby said first responders discovered five bodies and an injured child at around 4:30 a.m. local time on Wednesday at a residential house in Manchester, a town in Scott County, located around 50 miles (80 kilometers) southwest of Springfield.

Relatives identified the victims as 65-year-old Joanne Sinclair, her 22-year-old granddaughter Brittany Luark, her boyfriend Roy Ralston, 5-year-old Nolan Ralston, and 1-year-old Bradley Ralston. An unidentified six-year-old girl suffered gunshot wounds and was rushed to an area hospital where she remained in a critical condition on Thursday.

Investigators said it appeared the suspect, identified as 43-year-old Rick Odell Smith of rural Morgan County, had forced his way into the house through the backdoor. Shell casings at the crime scene also indicate that he killed the victims by firing a shotgun at close range, but forensic and ballistic evidence is still being processed.

Two of the bodies were discovered in one bedroom, two bodies in another bedroom, and one male adult was discovered deceased in the building's hallway. Witnesses told police that the six-year-old girl had been taken from the residence by Smith and was then handed over to a neighbor.

Several hours after the bodies were discovered, Illinois State Police and Winchester City Police came across Smith and a high-speed pursuit ensued. The pursuit came to an end at Illinois Route 106 and Woodson Blacktop, where Smith exited his vehicle before opening fire at police officers.

"The officers returned fire, striking the offender ... The offender was taken into custody and transported to an area hospital in critical condition," state police said during a briefing. Smith, who was the nephew of the town's mayor, was later pronounced dead at the hospital at approximately 10:10 a.m. local time.

The murders shocked the community in Scott County, where the last known homicide dated back to 1993 and where no multiple homicide had happened in modern history. "The Manchester community is saddened by this tragic loss and on behalf of the Illinois State Police and our law enforcement partners, we offer condolences and support during this time of grief," Illinois State Police Director Hiram Grau said, commending the combined efforts of the law enforcement agencies involved.

The exact motive for the violence incident was not immediately known, but local media reports indicated that Smith had been fighting with Sinclair's daughter over the custody of his 4-year-old child.
(Copyright 2013 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: [email protected].)

[Potosi]

Good headline. And a good idea to insert all the </p> because it makes one to take in important information slowly.

[F430murci]

Is this like a subliminal message to buy some Mazda thingy.

[Tywais]

We're aware of the title concatenation issue and will hopefully be resolved soon. Currently manually editing the titles to fix it.

[DocN]

So he was fighting with her over custody...and like in every other civilized countries...he took a gun and shot 5 people.

First: RIP the victims...

...and now: I guess, he was one of those evil gangsters, we hear so much about, that a good American family could easily fight off, with a cabinet full of fire- arms?!

Or was he send by President Obama, to take some civil rights away?

Anyways: people need more guns!

[Scott]

Before posters go off on some emotional diatribe, you might want to consider this sentence:

The murders shocked the community in Scott County, where the last known homicide dated back to 1993 and where no multiple homicide had happened in modern history.

[puck2]

Before posters go off on some emotional diatribe, you might want to consider this sentence:

The murders shocked the community in Scott County, where the last known homicide dated back to 1993 and where no multiple homicide had happened in modern history.

But without a gun it wouldn't be so easy to kill 5 !!! people, if at all.

.

[beechguy]

Well he apparently used a shotgun. Do we know if the guy had a criminal record or anything that would have made it illegal for him to have a firearm? Would gun control have prevented this, since itt wasn't one of those scary AR-15's? You guys do carry on, never mind waiting for the facts and more details.

Edited April 26, 2013 by beechguy

[Sing_Sling]

Well he apparently used a shotgun. Do we know if the guy had a criminal record or anything that would have made it illegal for him to have a firearm? Would gun control have prevented this, since itt wasn't one of those scary AR-15's? You guys do carry on, never mind waiting for the facts and more details.

What 'guys' are you referring to?

Ban all guns . . . eventually the crims will run out of supplies they steal from households

[Potosi]

"...local media reports indicated that Smith had been fighting with Sinclair's daughter over the custody of his 4-year-old child." The two were absent.

[Loptr]

Well he apparently used a shotgun. Do we know if the guy had a criminal record or anything that would have made it illegal for him to have a firearm? Would gun control have prevented this, since itt wasn't one of those scary AR-15's? You guys do carry on, never mind waiting for the facts and more details.

What 'guys' are you referring to?

Ban all guns . . . eventually the crims will run out of supplies they steal from households

Might take a while as there are over 300,000,000 guns in the US today and growing by the hour. Do you want to be the one to knock on someone's door and tell them they have to give up their weapons? I know I wouldn't want to try.

[Scott]

Troll post removed as well as replies.

[Sing_Sling]

Well he apparently used a shotgun. Do we know if the guy had a criminal record or anything that would have made it illegal for him to have a firearm? Would gun control have prevented this, since itt wasn't one of those scary AR-15's? You guys do carry on, never mind waiting for the facts and more details.

What 'guys' are you referring to?

Ban all guns . . . eventually the crims will run out of supplies they steal from households

Might take a while as there are over 300,000,000 guns in the US today and growing by the hour. Do you want to be the one to knock on someone's door and tell them they have to give up their weapons? I know I wouldn't want to try.

It may take a while but it worked in Australia . . . but no . . . I'd let the cops do the door-knocking

[yourauntbob]

Surprised to not see the gun control brigade out in full force on this one

[Sing_Sling]

Surprised to not see the gun control brigade out in full force on this one

Not a very long thread and you manage to miss posts . . .

[yourauntbob]

Surprised to not see the gun control brigade out in full force on this one

Not a very long thread and you manage to miss posts . . .

yea, a few comments but i was expecting more. fyi, i am not complaining