ALBION, Ill. (AP) — One suspect was arrested and another was found shot to death Thursday after a two-state shooting rampage that left four people dead and one injured.
Using a helicopter and a night-vision scope, police closed in on a farm field where the two men had been hiding out. The dead suspect had a bullet in the head, but it was unclear whether he committed suicide, officials said.
Authorities were still trying to figure out what triggered the spree that began Wednesday in Indiana and crossed into Illinois over the course of 15 hours.
Steven A. Hale, 21, of Washington, Ind., was charged with murder and attempted murder, Edwards County State’s Attorney Brian Shinkle said. He was captured in southeastern Illinois near the spot where his alleged accomplice, Chalk A. Wessell, 19, was found dead.
Hale appeared before a judge and had his bond set at $1 million. A hearing was set for April 13.
Miller, from Montgomery, Ind., was shot in his red pickup truck.
A warrant for Wessell’s arrest had been issued Tuesday on charges of carrying a handgun without a license, narcotics possession and receiving stolen property. Miller had been arrested Saturday on theft and burglary charges. Also pending were charges that Miller drove off without paying for gasoline, struck his girlfriend and tried to hit a man with a baseball bat.
Police said they had no possible motives for the shootings that followed Miller’s slaying.
The body of Marlin Knepp, 26, of Loogootee, Ind., was found along a road Wednesday. He was apparently shot as he was driving a tractor near an Amish settlement.
Pam Cook, 36, was found gunned down on the front porch of her home four miles east of Odon, Ind., about three hours after the Knepp killing. Her 8-year-old son was at home but didn’t know his mother was shot until a neighbor found the body, police said.