Feb. 11 (UPI) — Police in eastern Kentucky said they found five people dead at two locations in what they’re describing as a quadruple murder-suicide.
The Johnson County Sheriff’s Office said deputies responding to a call in McKenzie Branch found two people shot to death at a residence there Saturday afternoon.
Police launched a search for the suspect described by a witness at the scene. Finding his vehicle in Paintsville about 10 miles away officers searched an apartment complex there and found three more bodies.
Among the dead at the second residence was the suspect, whom police identified as Joseph Nickell.
“This has been a horrific murder spree,” Sheriff Dwayne Price said in a news release posted on the department’s Facebook page. “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.”
Price said the sheriff’s office and Kentucky State Police were investigating the slayings.
Officials withheld the identifies of the victims pending notification of next of kin.
