Seven people were killed in a mass shooting at a residence in Morgan County late Thursday.
The shooting took place at a home on the 500 block of Talucah Road in Valhermoso Springs close to Somerville at a little before 11:30 p.m., according to the Morgan County Sheriff’s office. The scene is about 10-12 minutes from Huntsville city limits.
Investigators are still working to identify one of the victims. Officers are pursuing leads on suspects.
The Morgan County Sheriff’s Office identified six of the victims: Tammy England Muzzey, 45, and 21-year-old Emily Brooke Payne, both of Valhermoso Springs; Roger Lee Jones Jr., 19, of Decatur; a 17-year-old juvenile girl; 31-year-old Jeramy Wade Roberts of Athens; and 18-year-old William Zane Hodgin of Somerville. A black male victim has yet to be identified.
Deputies said there are two white men, two black men and three white women. No children. Removal of bodies is ongoing.
Officials at 2:30 p.m. identified two victims: Jeramy Wade Roberts, of Athens, 31, and Willian Zane Hodgin, 18, of Summerville were among those killed.
Investigators believe any suspect or suspects have fled the area and there’s no risk to the public.
Upon arrival at the residence Thursday night, at 11:23, deputies saw part of the home was on fire and later discovered seven bodies inside after the fire was extinguished.
"It is a horrific scene and to be able to process it will take some time,” MCSO’s public information officer Mike Swafford told a local TV news station. “We don’t have a motive at this time. We don’t have a determined suspect at this time. Investigators are following leads to piece together exactly what happened and who was involved. We can say we don’t believe there is an active threat to anybody in the area.”
Swafford told AL.com that investigators believe the suspect went to the residence with the intention of shooting everyone there.
Some victims had multiple gunshot wounds, Swafford said. Authorities are still working to identify all of the victims, but Swafford said some lived at the house where the shootings occurred.
“Incredibly heinous, talking cold-blooded,” Swafford said in describing the homicides.
Deputies at the scene extinguished the fire, which Swafford said investigators speculate was started to cover up the crime.
The director of the county’s 911 service two calls reporting gunfire at the residence came in around 11:30 p.m. One caller said a gun had been fired intermittently for an hour.
The Madison County Sheriff’s Office and Somerville Police Department were brought in to assist with the crime scene. The FBI’s Violent Crimes Taskforce is also assisting.
AL.com has attempted to contact Swafford, the Madison County Sheriff’s Office and Somerville Police Department to gather further details about the shooting.
The shooting comes a little over a week after the county witnessed a triple homicide.
The seven deaths make this shooting one of the worst mass homicides in recent Alabama history.
Five people, including a pregnant mother, were killed in Citronelle in 2016. Five people were killed in a robbery in Birmingham in 2012 and five were killed in Shelby County in 2008.
In 2009, 11 people, including the gunman, were killed in a shooting spree in Samson.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated as new information becomes available.