[2Wycked]

I'm surprised there hasn't been a thread on this yet. . .

There was been a mass killing of eight people -- all members of the same family in Pike County, Ohio:

Quote:

There are currently more questions than answers surrounding Friday's mass shooting in Pike County.

Here is what we know so far (will be updated as new information arrives):

Timeline

Friday

7:53 a.m.: The Pike County Sheriff’s Office is called to 4077 Union Hill Road. The caller says there is a lot of blood and two male victims.

As deputies are responding, they are flagged down and told about two more addresses, 4199 and 3122 Union Hill Road. In all, seven victims, all adults, are found dead in the three homes.

1:36 p.m., Friday: Attorney General Mike DeWine sends out a news release stating that at least seven people were murdered in “execution-style killings.” DeWine says it is not an active-shooter situation. However, investigators are still trying to determine if the killer – or killers – is among the victims or on the loose.

Unspecified time, Friday afternoon: Officials are alerted to a fourth crime scene on Left Fork Road, where an eighth victim, a male, is found.

4:15 p.m., Friday: DeWine and Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader host a press conference. They confirm seven adults and a 16-year-old boy are dead. All were shot in the head execution style. Many were in bed at the time.

Only three children survived – a now 5-day-old, a 6-month-old and a 3-year-old.

DeWine said evidence from the crime scenes suggested none of the dead committed suicide. If that finding holds up, he said, it would mean at least one suspect remains on the loose.

“So obviously we have one person … who is armed and dangerous,” DeWine said. “And there may be more than one. There may be two. There may be three. We just don’t know at this point.”

“We’re treating this as a mass murder,” Reader said. “This is not something you prepare for.”

SATURDAY

11:30 a.m.: The Attorney General, via press release, said the shootings are still under investigation and no arrests had been made.

DeWine said he spoke with Ohio Gov. John Kasich Saturday morning to update him on the investigation.

12 p.m.: The AG's office said the Hamilton County Coroner's Office will be performing autopsies on the eight victims Saturday.

12:50 p.m.: Kimberly Newman, a member of the Ohio Crisis Response Team, read a short statement on behalf of the Rhoden family.

"The Rhoden family would like to thank everyone for all the outpouring for prayers and support for their family," she read. "They ask that you continue to keep them in your prayers. They'd like to thank all law enforcement from Pike County and all surrounding counties for their immediate response, especially to Sheriff Charlie Reader for all his hard work."

Newman also thanked Ohio Attorney General's Office and the Bureau of Criminal Investigations, as well as the first responders and victim advocates. She encouraged anyone with information about the shootings to contact law enforcement at 855-BCI-OHIO.

2 p.m.: Cincinnati-area restaurateur Jeff Ruby offered a $25,000 reward for any information about the Pike County shootings that would lead to an arrest and conviction. Ruby announced his reward on Twitter and a release quickly followed from the Attorney General's Office.

3 p.m.: The Attorney General's Office released audio from two 911 calls that came to dispatchers after the discovery of the mass shooting scene in Pike County Friday morning.

A partial transcription of the initial call -

“I think my brother-in-law is dead,” said a distraught caller speaking with a female 911 operator while gasping for breath. She said two men, Chris Rhoden and Gary Rhoden, at 4077 Union Hill Road appear to be dead.

“There’s blood all over the house. My brother-in-law is in the bedroom and it looks like someone has beat the hell out of him,” she said.

The call was placed at 7:49 a.m. Friday morning. The woman had driven to the house and discovered the horrifying scene.

“I think they are both dead,” she said.

A partial transcription of another 911 call -

“I need a deputy to come out to close to 799 Left Fork. It’s all that stuff that’s on the news. I just found my cousin with a gunshot wound,” a male caller said. He identified the man with a gunshot wound as Kenneth Rhoden.

When asked if Kenneth Rhoden was alive, the male caller just said, “No. no.” The call came in at 1:26 p.m. Friday.

“I just went in hollering at him, and checked if he was alright, and I looked up at him and he had a gunshot wound,” the man said.

5:35 p.m.: The Attorney General's Office Saturday evening released the names of the victims of Friday morning's mass shooting in Pike County.

The deceased are: Hannah Gilley, Christopher, Rhoden, Sr., Christopher Rhoden, Jr., Clarence "Frankie" Rhoden, Dana Rhoden, Gary Rhoden, Hanna Rhoden and Kenneth Rhoden.

The Attorney General's Office announced that work at each of the four crime scenes has been completed.

SUNDAY

11:55 a.m: Gov. John Kasich Sunday morning called the slaying of eight family members in Pike County "a horrible set of murders."

Kasich says he's been getting updates on the case as he is campaigning out of state for the Republican presidential nomination.

The governor told CBS in an interview Saturday that he is confident the perpetrators would be found and "justice will be delivered to them."

Attorney General Mike DeWine's office said Saturday that work at each of the crime scenes has been completed, and investigators are pursuing leads and processing evidence.

5:30 p.m.: After calling a press conference, Attorney General Mike DeWine and Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader had very little to reveal about the investigation into the Pike County mass killings during a Sunday evening press conference, but did say authorities found three marijuana grow operations at the scenes of the crime.

Reader indicated teams of law enforcement were in the woods near the crime scenes looking for evidence. Reader and DeWine would not comment on if the crimes were drug-related, but reiterated the shootings were planned and specifically targeted the Rhoden family.

Evidence found during searches around the Rhoden residences would be sent to the state crime lab, where 18 other pieces of evidence from the scenes are being analyzed, DeWine said.

Authorities have conducted 50 to 60 interviews and executed five search warrants since the scene was discovered Friday morning, DeWine said.

Reader and DeWine refused to release many more details to the public in an attempt to keep the "bad guys" from knowing the information in the possession of investigators.

After questions of public safety, Reader told residents of Pike County to arm themselves if they feared for their family's safety.

MONDAY

Morning: Attorney General Mike DeWine and Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader appeared on the Today Show to discuss the discovery of marijuana grow operations found at three of the crime scenes, though their exact locations were not released. When asked about a possible motive, officials deferred to speculation. “Well, you know, I think we can speculate what the motive was, we can talk about revenge, we can talk about how drug related, but frankly we just don’t know,” DeWine told the Today Show.

Morning: Students and staff of Piketon High School tried to make the first day back to school as normal as possible, while offering resources to students and employees. Christopher Rhoden Jr. was a 16-year-old student at Piketon. The school brought in extra counselors from area schools for staff and students.

Afternoon: In another media interview, DeWine said he saw evidence of cockfighting at the scene. The one thing I saw were chickens out there. These would be cockfighting chickens,” he said explaining his wife, Fran DeWine, could identify the types of coops used for fighting chickens from the aerial views of the scene shown on television.

In a press release, DeWine also announced:

• All eight autopsies have been completed.
• Search warrants have not yet been filed with the court.
• Roadblocks leading to the crime scenes will remain in place until the scenes are released by law enforcement.

The Rhoden family

Victims of the mass shooting were all related as shown in this family tree released Monday by the Attorney General's office.

The deceased are: Hannah Gilley, Christopher, Rhoden, Sr., Christopher Rhoden, Jr., Clarence "Frankie" Rhoden, Dana Rhoden, Gary Rhoden, Hanna Rhoden and Kenneth Rhoden.

The initial 911 call was for the 4077 Union Hill address, which is the home of Christopher Rhoden.

The first seven victims were located by Pike County deputies at 4077 Union Hill Road, 4199 Union Hill Road and 3122 Union Hill Road, all in Pike County.

A fourth crime scene with an eighth victim was established near Left Fork Road's intersection with OH 772 in Pike County.

Three small children, a now 5-day-old, a 6-month-old and a 3-year-old survived the shootings. The Pike County Sheriff's Office and the Ohio Attorney General's Office have not said who is currently caring for the children.

Tips

Authorities are urging anyone with information that could help to call 855-BCI-OHIO.

Funeral arrangements

Have not been released as of this time.

Random side note: Attorney General Mike DeWine is a former US Senator, having been ousted by Sherrod Brown in the 2006 Democratic landslide. So that's not really relevant to the issue.

Here are some pictures to give you a snapshot of the situation:

[philosophical_recovery]

That's puzzling. Someone trying to exterminate a whole family. Some young survivors, however.

No real clues. That area is probably rural enough to do that without any witnesses.

[Travesty]

Awful thing to happen no matter the circumstance, very sad event. I hope those 3 children somehow can build happy lives.

[puckerman]

How did I miss this? I lived in Columbus for six years.

Columbus is in Franklin County. If you drive down US23, you go into Pickaway County, Ross County, and then Pike County. If you draw a line directly south from Columbus and a line directly east from Cincinnati, the two lines will meet at Piketon.

There's quite a bit of stuff on the Columbus Dispatch web site:

http://www.dispatch.com/content/topic/ne...cides.html

I'm kind of surprised a mass shooting like this could happen in rural Ohio--especially southern Ohio. Lots of people have guns.

These are country people, and crimes like this hit these kind of communities hard. Other than local high school sports teams, these people don't have much to cheer about.

People are still naive in places like this, but in a good way. These are the kind of places where women never talk about their fear of being raped. You pump your gas, and THEN you pay for it.

Of course, it's also a place where lots of people grow marijuana. Nothing like this will ever cause the people to have the good sense to demand legalization of this stuff.

[Simeon_Strangelight]

Extermination of entire family except for the very young kids who won't take revenge.

It is likely drugs - meth. Some massive dispute might be the case too, but that is rare now in the West.

[GlobalMan]

The story stated 3 of the 4 locations had marijuana grow operations. Taking out the competition, or retaliation for something they did previously are my guesses.

[Suits]

If this was the south, I would speculate that it was a revenge situation where no one remembers what started it all.

In the north, you know it's drugs.

[Simeon_Strangelight]

(04-26-2016 02:31 AM)Suits Wrote:  

If this was the south, I would speculate that it was a revenge situation where no one remembers what started it all.

In the north, you know it's drugs.

Revenge of that scale was part of the previous honor cultures that were left behind at least in the West - also due to influences of Christianity.

If the family was involved in drugs then it makes sense to wipe them all out. One surviving member could have hired help and taken revenge. The surviving 3 year old won't do that anytime soon - if at all.

[puckerman]

(04-26-2016 02:00 AM)Zelcorpion Wrote:  

Extermination of entire family except for the very young kids who won't take revenge.

It is likely drugs - meth. Some massive dispute might be the case too, but that is rare now in the West.

Even hardened criminals have consciences and understand public relations. They know the kids are innocent, so they leave them alone. The only people who execute little kids are agents of the government.

I suspect somebody owed someboby money or somebody double-crossed somebody. This is for punishment and intimidation.

[Simeon_Strangelight]

(04-26-2016 02:40 AM)puckerman Wrote:  

(04-26-2016 02:00 AM)Zelcorpion Wrote:  

Extermination of entire family except for the very young kids who won't take revenge.

It is likely drugs - meth. Some massive dispute might be the case too, but that is rare now in the West.

Even hardened criminals have consciences and understand public relations. They know the kids are innocent, so they leave them alone. The only people who execute little kids are agents of the government.

I suspect somebody owed someboby money or somebody double-crossed somebody. This is for punishment and intimidation.

Funny that you mention that, but those cases where government killings were suspected usually end up with babies and pets getting killed. I always joke that the true job of the real James Bond is far more brutal and ruthless.

[puckerman]

(04-26-2016 02:51 AM)Zelcorpion Wrote:  

Funny that you mention that, but those cases where government killings were suspected usually end up with babies and pets getting killed.

Most of those kids and babies were killed in genocides. Lots of governments conducted genocides in the 20th Century.

[infowarrior1]

Could be Mexican Drug Cartel:

Quote:

There is widespread speculation that Mexican drug cartels could have be behind a brutal mass slaying in rural Ohio over the weekend, but so far little evidence has been unearthed to link the Pike County murders to Mexican narco groups.

Along with the eight bodies found shot, execution-style, inside four homes in Piketon, law enforcement also uncovered hundreds of pounds of marijuana at some of the locations.

The victims — all members of an extended family — were fatally shot in the head, including a young mother whose newborn baby was sleeping beside her Friday morning. That baby, another infant and a toddler were spared.

Most of the victims were shot multiple times, including one who was shot nine times, according to autopsy results released Tuesday. Some also had bruising, which matched a report from a 911 caller who said two appeared to have been beaten up.

The Ohio Attorney General’s office told Fox News Latino that it is investigating every possible angle, but it has not seen any major crimes tied to Mexican cartels since 2012.

"We have no idea. I mean you know we're running those leads out, there are many different theories," Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine told CBS News.

Much of the speculation about Mexican cartels being involved in the slayings come from Pike County’s history as a marijuana growing center and a slew of recent arrests of drug dealers with purported ties to cartels in Mexico.

"It wasn't just somebody sitting pots in the window," Pike County Prosecutor Rob Junk told The Columbus Dispatch.

http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/20...ohio-mass/


What Organized crime and gangs in general are is an establishment of sovereignty. It exists because it delivers certain services better than the government. There two sensible ways for the government to act in this case:

A) cooperate with the gang by giving them legitimate authority over a region ("if you can't beat 'em, join 'em"); or

B) purge the gang from the earth at any cost

Anything in-between will waste resources and maximize human suffering

[debeguiled]

(04-25-2016 11:19 PM)2Wycked Wrote:  

I'm surprised there hasn't been a thread on this yet. . .

Don't know about anyone else, but I am in a massive state of atrocity meltdown and overload. They are just coming too fast and too terrible. I kind of mentally skip over this shit lately.

[EDantes]

Probably done by someone in the household.

Maybe a beta provider husband who caught wifey in bed with the neighborhood dope dealer; that's why the kids were spared

[PapayaTapper]

(04-28-2016 03:29 PM)debeguiled Wrote:  

(04-25-2016 11:19 PM)2Wycked Wrote:  

I'm surprised there hasn't been a thread on this yet. . .

Don't know about anyone else, but I am in a massive state of atrocity meltdown and overload. They are just coming too fast and too terrible. I kind of mentally skip over this shit lately.

They shouldn't call it "the news" but rather "the bad news".

I made a conscious choice years ago to tune out as much pointless negativity as possible. My life is better for it

[EDantes]

(04-28-2016 03:46 PM)PapayaTapper Wrote:  

I made a conscious choice years ago to tune out as much pointless negativity as possible. My life is better for it

Me too; bad news outside of one's local community or neighborhood has no bearing on our lives and is just pure 'outrage porn'.

[WeFuckGoats]

Don't fuck with the cartels.

[Foolsgo1d]

(04-28-2016 03:29 PM)debeguiled Wrote:  

(04-25-2016 11:19 PM)2Wycked Wrote:  

I'm surprised there hasn't been a thread on this yet. . .

Don't know about anyone else, but I am in a massive state of atrocity meltdown and overload. They are just coming too fast and too terrible. I kind of mentally skip over this shit lately.

The question people ask is whether violence like this gets reported more or it keeps happening more and more.

[Disco_Volante]

This was a cartel hit. They operate everywhere in the US

[aeroektar]

This could have been literally anything, but I doubt the cartels are going after pot growers in rural Ohio. From what I know they've practically abandoned the marijuana trade and heavily shifted focus on importing heroin over the last 5-10 years. Its obvious when you look at the north east. No more mid grades (shitty mexican weed) and Cali weed everywhere, even dealers selling edibles that are sold at dispensaries in Cali. At the same time you have a MAJOR heroin crisis going on (of coarse you don't hear that on national news).

[Walker]

(04-28-2016 07:24 PM)aeroektar Wrote:  

This could have been literally anything, but I doubt the cartels are going after pot growers in rural Ohio. From what I know they've practically abandoned the marijuana trade and heavily shifted focus on importing heroin over the last 5-10 years. Its obvious when you look at the north east. No more mid grades (shitty mexican weed) and Cali weed everywhere, even dealers selling edibles that are sold at dispensaries in Cali. At the same time you have a MAJOR heroin crisis going on (of coarse you don't hear that on national news).

Yep.

No more easy to get prescription opiates leads to people turning to heroin for their fix. Domestic supply of heroin isn't high enough to meet that demand so the cartels step in.

[XPQ22]

(04-26-2016 02:26 AM)GlobalMan Wrote:  

The story stated 3 of the 4 locations had marijuana grow operations. Taking out the competition, or retaliation for something they did previously are my guesses.

An idea of a story:

Perhaps moved in on someone else's meth/pot distribution turf, and started undercutting them in the market.

Murders like this definitely don't happen out of the blue, however, even if that was the situation. If it was, it's likely that there were warnings.

But they were young people, arrogant, and the money was quite good. They chose not to listen - stuff like that only happens in the movies, after all. But by putting the needs of their family first, they were likely trashing the lives of someone else's...or at least the "lifestyle to which they had become accustomed." It was a zero-sum game. There are people out there who would definitely rather murder an entire family than ever go back to being poor, after having tasted the "good life."

Big mistake.

Quote:

This was a cartel hit. They operate everywhere in the US

A cartel wouldn't have left a single person alive.