14-year-old shoots, kills 5 family members in Elkmont

ELKMONT – A 14-year-old confessed to shooting and killing five family members in Elkmont late Monday night, the Limestone County Sheriff’s Office said this morning.

“This is devastating,” Elkmont Mayor Tracy Compton said this morning. “There were less than 500 people in the last census that lived in Elkmont, and five of those are not with us anymore.”

The teen who reported the shooting later confessed to it, according to the Limestone County Sheriff’s Office.

“The 14-year-old caller was interviewed and confessed to shooting all five members of his family,” according to the Sheriff’s Office.

Limestone County Coroner Mike West this morning said two of the victims were adults and three were children.

The Sheriff’s Office said the shooting took place at the teen’s residence at the 25000 block of Ridge Road, which is near the Elkmont Volunteer Fire Department. A Limestone County Sheriff’s Office incident log first references the shooting at 10:55 p.m. Monday. The Sheriff’s Office at about 4 a.m. said via Twitter that the teenager was assisting deputies in finding the 9mm handgun he used.

“Investigators have recovered the handgun from the side of the road nearby where it had been tossed,” the Sheriff’s Office said via Twitter at 9:37 a.m.

Two of the victims, an adult and a juvenile, were initially in critical condition and were airlifted to Huntsville Hospital in Huntsville and Children’s of Alabama in Birmingham, the Sheriff’s Office said, but have since died.

Limestone County Sheriff’s spokesman Stephen Young said the 14-year-old initially told a dispatcher he was downstairs when he heard gunshots on the home’s upper floor.

Sheriff Mike Blakely at 3 a.m. said the two people with injuries had died. He said the shooter made the initial call reporting the incident and later confessed.

Compton said the victims were the father, step-mother, and siblings of the alleged shooter.

The mayor said he lives within 1,000 feet of the residence where the shooting took place, which he said is a rental property. He said the residential neighborhood has few renters, with lots of 1 to 2 acres.

“The last time I saw (the shooter) he was on a mini-bike a couple of years ago, riding up and down the road with a little Army hat on,” Compton said.

In a Facebook post, Elkmont High School advised it would have extra counselors available today.