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WPVI-TV reports that a gunman is barricaded in a house in Souderton, Pa., a suburb of Philadelphia. Police were called after two people were found dead in a home. Three others were found shot to death in two other locations. (Dec. 15)
Police surround a home in Souderton, Pa., where a suspect was believed to have barricaded himself after shootings at multiple homes.(Photo: Matt Rourke, AP)
Six people were killed and one was seriously wounded in shootings at three locations in suburban Philadelphia, and a manhunt was underway for a suspect who knew the victims, authorities in Montgomery County said Monday.
One of the dead was the gunman's ex-wife, who was engaged to be married.
Police were looking for Bradley William Stone, 35, of Pennsburg, the county district attorney's offfice said. Authorities said that the shootings appeared to be related to a domestic dispute and that all the victims had a "familial relationship" with Stone.
"Stone should be considered armed and dangerous," District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman said in a statement."Police are conducting an extensive search in and around Pennsburg."
Police converged on a home in Pennsburg, about 30 miles northwest of Philadelphia, and were using a megaphone to try and draw Stone out.
Montgomery County (Pennsylvania) law enforcement authorities are seeking the whereabouts of Bradley William Stone, shown in this undated file photo. He is a 35-year-old Pennsburg, Pa. resident, suspected in the deaths of six people and the serious wounding of another at three locations in Montgomery County Dec. 15, 2014. All of the victims have a familial relationship to Stone. (Photo: Montgomery County District Attorney's Office)
"Bradley, this is the police department!" an officer yelled. "Come to the front door with your hands up. You're under arrest."
Ferman said Stone is known to use a cane or walker to assist him.
About 3 p.m., WPVI-TV reported that police had fired flash-bang grenades and tear gas into the home. But the manhunt continued into the afternoon.
Earlier, the station reported that police had found the suspect's vehicle, and the station tweeted that a gunman was "barricaded" in a house in the town of Souderton, where two people were found dead.
Just before noon, an apparent concussion grenade exploded and an unidentified male was removed from the home and taken by ambulance to a medical helicopter, Philly.com reported. The person, who was apparently seriously wounded, was not the gunman, Towamencin Township Police Chief Tim Dickinson said. The person's condition was not immediately reported.
Police then quickly moved on to Pennsburg.
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Souderton School District issued a notice on its website that its schools were in lockdown.
"Due to police activity in Souderton and Harleysville, our schools have been placed in 'Shelter in Place' as of 8:45 a.m. this morning. All students are safe and are secured in their classrooms," the notice said. "Visitors will not be allowed in the schools until further notice. More information will be provided to parents as soon as possible."
In nearby Lansdale, dispatchers said a SWAT team responded. Officers searched nearby buildings but, after three hours, police drew back from the scene without announcing anything about the shooting suspect, nbcphiladelphia.com reported.
A resident at a Lower Salford Township apartment complex told both TV stations she heard gunshots around 4 a.m. and saw the suspect leave with two children.
"I opened the window and I asked him 'Is everything OK?' He just looked at me and said, 'She's hurt pretty bad. We have to leave. She's hurt.' And he just got in the car and left," the unidentified neighbor said.
Police later found the mother dead inside the apartment, and the children were found safe at a neighbor's home, the stations reported, citing sources.
Another neighbor, Evon Weron, told the Associated Press that the woman was Stone's ex-wife and that they had been fighting over custody of the children. He also said Stone was a military veteran.
He ex-wife was identified as Nicole Hill.
Contributing: Michael Winter
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