Thread: Shooter reportedly on the loose after 7 killed in southern Ohio

Shooter reportedly on the loose after 7 killed in southern Ohio

Published April 22, 2016 FoxNews.com

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DEVELOPING: A shooter is on the loose after at least seven people, some of them children, were killed at three different crime scenes in southern Ohio Friday, local news agencies report.

One of the scenes is a home east of Peebles in Pike County. Ohio's Bureau of Criminal Investigation sent more than a dozen agents to investigate, officials tell Fox 28 in Columbus.

Sources tell the news station investigators don't believe the attacks were random. All seven people who died were family members, according to WKRC.

Peebles High School and all Adams County Ohio Valley Schools went on lockdown, Fox 19 in Cincinnati adds.

A spokeswoman for Ohio's attorney general Mike DeWine told the Chillicothe Gazette nobody had been arrested as of Friday morning.

The bureau sent crime scene investigators, special investigators, criminal intelligence agents and cyber crime investigators, Fox 19 adds. Officials told WLWT they sent so many agents because they're not sure exactly what unfolded at the home.

Police closed off roads around the home. Pike County is roughly 80 miles east of Cincinnati and 70 miles south of Columbus.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/04/22...ohio-home.html


Click for more from Fox 28.
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Mass Shootings in 2016 | Graphiq

AG: Pot grow operations found at Pike County crime scenes; killings were planned, methodical

No arrests, breakthroughs in Pike County killings

UPDATED 6:23 PM EDT Apr 24, 2016

PIKE COUNTY, Ohio —Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said in a Sunday news conference that Friday’s slayings in Pike County were well-planned and methodical.

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DeWine released few details on the shooting, but did say that marijuana grow operations were found at three crime scenes in Pike County.

Watch the full press conference
Eight members of the Rhoden family were found shot dead Friday near Piketon, about 60 miles south of Columbus.

DeWine said they have followed dozens of leads and have conducted over 50 interviews in the case.

“There have been over 100 personnel involved in this investigation, five search warrants were executed and four crime scenes were worked,” DeWine said, adding that additional searching will be done. “Eighteen pieces of evidence are now at the state crime lab BCI.”

DeWine called it a sophisticated operation, in which the person or persons who carried it out “did everything that they could do to hinder the investigation and their prosecution.”

Due to these facts, DeWine predicts that the investigation will be lengthy. He said details on the investigation will be few.

Timeline of events in Pike County shooting
“Our goal is to do everything within our power in this investigation to find these people or this person who has done this. We will not be telling the bad guys everything that we know,” DeWine said.

Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader said he has spoken with the Rhoden family.

“I cautioned them that they were a target and I told them to be armed,” Reader said. “For the other citizens of this county, I don’t believe that there is an issue. I’ve taken the precautionary measures to contact other sheriffs.”

“If you are fearful, arm yourself,” Reader told the residents of Pike County. “If you feel you need to protect yourself or family, do so.”

Reader urged anyone with information on the shooting to come forward, saying sheriffs will be accessible in the area.

Photos from the scene
Investigators have finished collecting evidence at the four homes where the victims were fatally shot, but the crime scenes remain under law enforcement custody, a spokeswoman with the attorney general's office said Sunday.

Residents of the rural southern Ohio community of Piketon are rattled by the calculated slaying of eight members of the tight-knit family known in the area as hard workers.

The names of the dead are Hannah Gilley, 20, Christopher Rhoden Sr., 40, Christopher Rhoden Jr., 16, Clarence "Frankie" Rhoden, 20, Dana Rhoden, 37, Gary Rhoden, 38, Hanna Rhoden, 19, and Kenneth Rhoden, 44.

It appeared some of the family members were killed as they slept, including Hanna Rhoden, who was in bed with her newborn baby nearby, authorities said. The baby was 4 or 5 days old, authorities said.

The newborn, Hannah Gilley's 6-month-old baby, and one other small child were not hurt.

Authorities said none of the injuries appeared self-inflicted and a search for the killer or killers continued Sunday.

Autopsies were being performed at the Hamilton County morgue by the same pathologist in order to ensure continuity in determining how each person died.

The work was expected to take most of the weekend.

Cincinnati restaurant owner Jeff Ruby offered a $25,000 reward for information leading to the capture and conviction of the killer or killers.

With eight funerals in the days ahead, a fund has been set up at the First State Bank in Peebles.

http://www.wlwt.com/news/community-r...inues/39189042

• BREAKING NEWS
• 
  Four family members arrested in 2016 execution-style murders of eight people in Ohio
  
  Four members of a family have been arrested in connection with the brutal, execution-style murders of seven adults and one teen at a home in Ohio in 2016, the state's attorney general announced Tuesday.
  Click here for more.
• For more news, please go to FoxNews.com and watch Fox News Channel.

Published 24 mins ago
Last Update 8 mins ago

Rhoden family execution-style murders: 4 family members arrested in 2016 Ohio killings

By Travis Fedschun, Ryan Gaydos | Fox News


New twists at the crime scene of Ohio massacre

Cockfighting roosters, evidence of a pot operation found on site


Four members of a family have been arrested in connection with the brutal, execution-style murders of seven adults and one teen at a home in Ohio in 2016, the state's attorney general announced Tuesday.

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said the suspects, a husband, wife, and their two adult sons, were arrested in connection with the Rhoden family murders.

"Following an extensive investigation by my office’s #OhioBCI and the #PikeCounty Sheriff’s Office, we have arrested four people accused of the murders of eight people in Pike County on April 22, 2016," DeWine said on Twitter.

The Ohio A.G. release identified the suspects as George "Billy" Wagner III, Angela Wagner, and sons George Wagner IV and Edward "Jake" Wagner.



George "Billy" Wagner III, Angela Wagner, and sons George Wagner IV and Edward "Jake" Wagner were arrested Tuesday.(Ohio Attorney General.)


The Wagners had "close business and family relations" with the Rhoden family before the April 2016 murders, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. The killings in Piketon, located 70 miles south of Columbus, sparked the largest homicide investigation in Ohio history.

Autopsy reports released earlier this year revealed how brutal the massacre was, and how one of the victims tried to fight back.

The report in September revealed Christopher Rhoden Sr., the father of the teenager and two others killed that day, was shot nine times and it noted that his body was decomposed “more than all the others.” He appeared to have suffered a defensive wound to his right forearm and that another bullet went through a door before hitting him, the Enquirer reported at the time. His body was found in the back bedroom of a trailer.

Gary Rhoden, Christopher Rhoden Sr.’s cousin, was also found dead in the same trailer, according to the newspaper. The report indicated a gun was pressed to his head, according to the newspaper.

BRUTAL KILLING OF EIGHT MEMBERS OF OHIO FAMILY WAS SYSTEMATICALLY EXECUTED, AUTOPSY SHOWS

Christopher Rhoden Sr.’s brother, Kenneth Rhoden, 44; his ex-wife Dana Manley Rhoden, 38; and their three children Clarence “Frankie” Rhoden, 20; Hanna Rhoden, 19; and Chris Rhoden, Jr., 16, were killed in the slayings. Clarence’s Rhoden’s fiancée, Hannah Gilley, 20, was also murdered.

Ohio AG Mike DeWine@OhioAG

· 42m

#BREAKING: Following an extensive investigation by my office’s #OhioBCI and the #PikeCounty Sheriff’s Office, we have arrested four people accused of the murders of eight people in Pike County on April 22, 2016. #Ohio

Ohio AG Mike DeWine@OhioAG

The suspects – a husband, wife, and their two adult sons - are now charged with killing eight people: seven members of the #RhodenFamily and the fiancée of one of the victims. We will release more information later today. #PikeCounty pic.twitter.com/IKf6luYSXQ

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10:18 AM - Nov 13, 2018



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Heavily redacted versions of the reports showed all but one of the victims was shot multiple times in the head.

Information on bullet types were not released. Toxicology results were also blacked out. Kenneth Rhoden was found dead in a camper three miles from where Christopher Rhoden Sr. was shot dead, according to the Enquirer. He died of a single gunshot to his right eye.

Gary Rhoden, Christopher Rhoden Sr.’s cousin, was also found dead in the same trailer, according to the Enquirer. The report indicated a gun was pressed to his head, according to the newspaper.


The eight Rhoden family members. (Fox 19 Cincinnati)


Christopher Rhoden Sr.’s brother, Kenneth Rhoden, 44; his ex-wife Dana Manley Rhoden, 38; and their three children Clarence “Frankie” Rhoden, 20; Hanna Rhoden, 19; and Chris Rhoden, Jr., 16, were killed in the slayings. Clarence’s Rhoden’s fiancée, Hannah Gilley, 20, was also murdered.

YOUNGEST OHIO FAMILY MEMBER RECEIVED FACEBOOK THREAT BEFORE MURDERS

Heavily redacted versions of the reports showed all but one of the victims was shot multiple times in the head.

Information on bullet types were not released. Toxicology results were also blacked out. Kenneth Rhoden was found dead in a camper three miles from where Christopher Rhoden Sr. was shot dead, according to the Enquirer. He died of a single gunshot to his right eye.

DeWine has previously said that Christopher Rhoden Sr. had “a large-scale marijuana growing operation," sparking speculation that the killings were drug-related. Additional details were to be announced by a news conference on Tuesday.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/rhoden-fa...-ohio-killings