APPOMATTOX, Va. (AP) — Schools are closed in a rural Virginia county as police search for a gunman they believe killed eight people at a nearby home.
State Police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said early Wednesday that investigators are intensifying their search for 39-year-old Christopher Speight in Appomattox County, about 100 miles southwest of Richmond. They used dogs and heat-sensing equipment overnight.
Sheriff O. Wilson Staples says four local schools that serve about 2,000 students will be closed.
On Tuesday, police found three bodies inside a rural home and four other victims lying outside. Another man found injured along a nearby roadway later died.
Authorities say Speight forced a police helicopter to land after shooting its fuel tank and is armed with a high-powered rifle.
