Police in Virginia say a gunman who killed eight people in a rural part of the southeastern U.S. state has turned himself in.
They identify the gunman as 39-year-old Christopher Speight, and say he surrendered early Wednesday without incident.
He had been the subject of an intense manhunt in a wooded area near the central Virginia town of Appomattox, about 240 kilometers south of Washington, DC.
The eight victims were found dead in and around a small house near the town. Police say they included both men and women.
The shootings were discovered after a young man was found shot along the side of a rural road Tuesday.
They say they believe Speight fired at a state police helicopter that was assisting the manhunt, striking its fuel tanks and forcing it to land.
Appomattox is famous for being the site where General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant to end the American Civil war in 1865.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
