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Nine dead after Missouri mass murder

TYRONE, Mo. (MEDIA GENERAL) – Nine people are dead and authorities in Missouri are investigating six separate scenes. The alleged shooter has been found dead in a car from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

During a Friday morning news conference, Missouri State Highway Patrol Sgt. Jeff Kinder said police would not be releasing the names of the dead until they could be sure next of kin had been notified.

In all, seven people were found shot to death, an elderly woman appears to have died from natural causes, and the shooter was found dead. One more person was also found shot and taken to the hospital to be treated for injuries.

Everything started Thursday night at 10:15 p.m. CST. A juvenile female called authorities and said she had heard gunshots in her residence and ran to her neighbor’s house. When investigators arrived, they found two people dead in the home in Tyrone, Missouri.

Upon further investigation, five more people were found shot dead and a sixth was found shot and injured at three more residences. Then, an elderly woman was found dead of natural causes at another home.

Sgt. Kinder would not speculate on the relationship between the elderly woman and the other victims. He also would not label her a victim, instead calling her one of the deceased. All of the victims were found in Tyrone, Missouri.

Following the discovery of the shooting scenes, the alleged 36-year-old shooter was found dead in a vehicle in Shannon County, Missouri.

At one point during the news conference, Sgt. Kinder was asked about the number of victims again. He paused and began counting on his fingers. “Isn’t that terrible? Lose count,” he said.

Sgt. Kinder said the investigation has not been easy on officers. “In our job we see a lot of bad stuff and this is bad. It’s hard on the officers who are out there. It’s not natural to see that sort of thing.”

Anyone with information about what happened is asked to call the Texas County Sheriff’s Department 417-967-4165 or Missouri Highway Patrol 417-469-3121.