Five people, including a doctor, his wife and two grandchildren, were killed in a mass shooting at a South Carolina home that ended early Thursday with a suspected detainee, according to authorities.
Shots at a Rock Hill home erupted around 4:45 p.m. Wednesday and killed Dr. Robert Lesslie, 70, his wife Barbara Lesslie, 69, two of his grandchildren, 9-year-old Adah Lesslie and 5 years. Noah Lesslie, according to the York County Sheriff’s Office.
A fifth victim, James Lewis, 38, who was working at home at the time, was also shot dead. A sixth person, who was not immediately identified, was hospitalized with a serious gunshot wound, authorities said.
Investigators said they identified a suspect in the mass shooting and arrested him after finding him at a nearby house.
“There is no active threat to the community,” the sheriff’s officials said tweeted early Thursday.
The suspect, who was not immediately identified, was arrested about eight hours later, the state reported.
Robert Lesslie has been practicing medicine at Rock Hill since 1981, according to his biography at Riverview House Calls & Riverview Hospice and Palliative Care, where he worked as a medical director. Four children have survived him. He and Barbara Lesslie had been married for more than 40 years, The State reported.
A spokesman for the York County sheriff’s office told the newspaper it is unclear what connection, if any, the suspect had with the Lesslie family.
“We’re surprised this is happening here in York County,” spokesman Trent Farris said. “It simply came to our notice then. You usually think of a movie theater or a mall, but we treat it like a mass shooting because there were five dead. ”
Faris noted the highlight Lesslie had had in the Rock Hill community.
“He was my doctor, if that’s enough,” Faris told the state.
Sheriff’s officials tweeted on wednesday they were looking for a “young black man” with a hood and camouflage pants after finding the six victims.
Faris declined to identify the alleged gunman or give information about his condition at a news conference that ended after 1 a.m. Thursday, the state reported.
Lesslie’s family asks for privacy as they cry, Faris said.