Grandma, Kids Among 5 Dead in Illinois Shooting

Incident leads to car chase, closed schools
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 24, 2013 9:17 AM CDT
Updated Apr 24, 2013 11:58 AM CDT
5 Killed in Illinois Shooting
   (Shutterstock)

Five people, including two children, were killed and another child was injured in a shooting this morning in the tiny Illinois town of Manchester, which is home to just 300 people. The suspect managed to evade police for nearly three hours, but was ultimately captured after a high-speed chase in which shots were fired, WLDS reports. He was taken to an area hospital, where he eventually died, police tell Fox 2.

The victims include 65-year-old Joanne Sinclair; her 22-year-old granddaughter, Brittany Luark; Luark's boyfriend, Roy Ralston; and their children, Nolan Ralston, 5, and Brantley Ralston, 1, the Chicago Tribune reports. Another 7-year-old girl was taken to the hospital. "The guy broke into the house," Sinclair's son-in-law said. "I couldn't tell you about the guy, never met him, never seen him, never talked to him." But a neighbor identified the shooter as Rick Smith, 43, and said he was embroiled in a custody battle over his 4-year-old, whose mother is Sinclair's daughter. (More Illinois stories.)

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