Eight shot dead in Ohio after family row

A family argument Sunday in Ohio ended in the shooting deaths of eight people in two places, including an 11-year-old, and two more people were wounded.

One person shot five people to death in one location, and two more were killed nearby before police killed the gunman, police Chief Michael Mier said yesterday.

The shootings happened in a wooded, residential neighbourhood of older homes outside Akron, Copley Township officers said.

Jeff Kirby of nearby Norton said he was visiting his mother's home a block from the shootings at mid-morning when he heard gunfire - about 15 shots with several pauses between them.

Copley police Sgt. Eric Goodwin said he did not know the conditions of the wounded but said he believed there were no more victims.

He gave no more details, including how the shooter and victims were related, their names or what led to the argument. "That's still under investigation," he said.

Copley Township is a town of about 14,000 people outside Akron in northeast Ohio.