Explosives found at home of Virginia shooter
Bomb technicians discovered a "multitude" of explosives on Wednesday at the home of a man suspected in the shooting deaths of eight people.
Christopher Bryan Speight, a 39-year-old security guard, surrendered to police at daybreak after leading authorities on an 18-hour manhunt following the shootings at a house in rural central Virginia where deputies found a mortally wounded man and seven bodies.
As of late Wednesday, bomb squads had found and detonated seven explosives. The blasting was expected to continue into Thursday.
Speight had no weapons when he surrendered shortly after 7am Wednesday wearing a bulletproof vest over a black fleece jacket, camouflage pants and mud-caked boots.
Neither the sheriff nor a state police spokeswoman would disclose what Speight said when he gave up.
Authorities remained tight-lipped on most details surrounding the killings, including any possible motive. Nor did they immediately identify any of the victims or their relationship to the suspect. Authorities would say only that he knew his victims.
Speight, who was jailed while awaiting charges, co-owned and lived in the home where some of the bodies were found.
Police were alerted to the bloodbath when they found the mortally wounded man on the side of a road. Then sheriff's deputies discovered seven more bodies – three inside the house and four just outside.
When officers converged on the area, the suspected shooter fired a high-powered rifle at a state police helicopter, rupturing its gas tank and forcing it to land.
The shots revealed his location, and more than 100 police swarmed into the woods until Speight gave up the following morning.
Police said Speight appeared to have had weapons training, but there was no information suggesting he had served in the military.
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