mass killing in southwest missouri

TEXAS COUNTY – The Missouri State Highway Patrol held a news conference Friday morning on a mass homicide that happened overnight near Tyrone.

Sgt. Jeff Kinder confirmed nine people were deceased. Of the nine, seven are suspected homicides. Authorities said the suspected shooter shot himself. They also said an elderly woman died of natural causes. One other person was injured.

Sgt. Kinder said this is a difficult case to cover.

“In our job we see a lot of bad stuff, and this is bad,” Sgt. Kinder said. “This is also hard on the police officers who are working out there. It’s not natural to see that sort of thing. And I’m sure they were as shocked as a lot of the people are in this room.”

There are multiple crime scenes. They consist of five homes in Texas County and a separate scene in Shannon County. That is where authorities said they found a car with a deceased shooter inside.

Several media reports indicate the Missouri State Highway Patrol had a mobile command post set up near the intersection of Highway 137 and Route H.

The Texas County Sheriff and the Missouri Highway Patrol are investigating the case.

“I believe we have seven investigators with our division of drug and crime control,” Sgt. Kinder said. “They are still working active crime scenes in Texas and the one in Shannon County also.”