BELLEFONTAINE, Ohio (AP) – Six people, including two children, were found shot to death Sunday morning in neighboring farmhouses, and investigators believe one of the victims was responsible for the slayings, a sheriff’s officer said.

The same family owned both houses on a farm of several hundred acres. Two bodies were found in one farmhouse and four were found in another.

Authorities said the shootings probably happened between 6 and 10 a.m. at the farm west of Bellefontaine, a town of 13,000 people about 45 miles northwest of Columbus.

“I’ve being doing this for 35 years, and I’ve never seen anything like this,” Logan County Sheriff’s Lt. Chuck Stout said.

Investigators believe one of the victims was responsible for the attack, Stout said.

Detectives were interviewing friends and family members of the victims, whose identities were not immediately released.

A seventh person shot in the neck called a friend who alerted authorities, Sheriff Michael Henry said.

The victim was flown to Ohio State University Medical Center in Columbus. No information was available on the person’s condition.

People drifted in and out of the sheriff’s office, hugging and crying, throughout the afternoon.

One woman nearly collapsed moments after arriving and speaking with people at the office, and deputies had to help her inside.

“Dealing with a small community like this, everyone knows everyone,” Henry said.

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