'Horrific murder spree' leaves 5 dead in Kentucky: Sheriff

thinkstock_sirens_021118

iStock/Thinkstock(PAINTSVILLE, Ky.) — Five people are dead, including a male suspect, after separate shooting attacks at a house and an apartment complex in northeast Kentucky Saturday, officials said.

Two victims were found dead in a home in Paintsville around 3:30 p.m. Then, in a search for suspect Jospeh Nickell, two additional victims were found dead at an apartment complex, the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office said. The suspect was also found dead there.

The Johnson County Sheriff’s Office was directed to the apartment complex after “911 received a tip that the subject’s vehicle was on Mill Street in Paintsville,” according to a statement. “All agencies responded and located the vehicle. Sheriff Price led a search of the apartment complex. An apartment was located that had the bodies of two additional victims and the preparator, Joseph Nickell. All three were deceased.”

Johnson County Sheriff Dwayne Price said in a statement, “This has been a horrific murder spree. 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. This is one of the most disturbing acts of violence I have ever seen.”

The identities of the victims are not being released pending notification of families.

No further information, including motive, was provided.

Copyright © 2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.