US police hunt Iraq war veteran after six family members are shot dead

[Fascination]

US police hunt Iraq war veteran after six family members are shot dead

PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 16 December, 2014, 10:31pm
UPDATED : Tuesday, 16 December, 2014, 10:31pm

Reuters

A police SWAT team officer runs past a police vehicle and towards a home where a gunman accused in the shooting deaths of six people is believed to be hiding in Pennsburg, Pennsylvania. Photo: EPA

An Iraq war veteran suspected of killing six family members in towns around Philadelphia was being hunted by Pennsylvania police, US authorities said.

The manhunt for Bradley William Stone, 35, was concentrated in and around Pennsburg. Residents were told to remain locked indoors, the Montgomery County district attorney said.

Stone, who lives in Pennsburg, was being sought in the shooting deaths on Monday of his ex-wife, his former mother-in-law, former grandmother-in-law, former sister-in-law and two other family members, District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman said.

"As we stand here right now, we don't know where he is," she said. Pennsburg is about 80km northwest of Philadelphia.

Stone took his two young daughters from the home of his ex-wife but left them with a neighbour and they were safe, Ferman said.

Stone suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, local media said. He had enlisted in the US Marine Corps Reserves in 2002 and was deployed to Iraq.

Ferman's office said, "Stone should be considered armed and dangerous."

Stone was believed to have gone on a shooting spree in three towns, first killing his ex-wife's sister, husband and 14-year-old daughter in Souderton, the district attorney said.

Reuters