Billy Booth, 74, was found dead in his home after shooting and wounding seven neighbors, police said.
KETV
Shooting in Crete, Nebraska
A Nebraska man who told his Spanish-speaking neighbors to “go back where you came from” and “speak English” shot and killed seven of them, including four children, before fatally shooting himself, authorities said.
At 4:43 p.m. Friday, the Nebraska State Patrol responded to multiple reports of an active shooter in the town of Crete, State Patrol Col. John Bolduc said at a news conference Saturday reviewed by PEOPLE.
Officers from the Crete and Celine County police who arrived on the scene could still hear gunshots on the quiet street.
In the chaos, officers and paramedics carried the victims from the back of the house to a safe location where they could be treated and taken to hospital, he said.
When officers reached the victims’ home, “they heard a single gunshot coming from the house behind them,” Bolduc said.
Authorities identified seven victims in total, he said. Three of the victims are adults, ranging in age from 22 to 43. The other four are children, ranging in age from 3 to 10, he said.
Six victims were taken to local hospitals. A seventh victim later realized he had been shot, he said.
Three remain hospitalized, including two children, according to an NSP press release.
Fifteen people live in the house where the victims were shot. Some were inside when the gunfire broke out, but most were outside.
He said at least one victim was shot while inside the home.
While the victims were evacuated from the scene, officers set up a perimeter to protect other neighbors.
All the gunfire came from another home, where a SWAT team barricaded the gunman, identified as Billy Booth, 74, inside.
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When they entered the house, they found Booth dead, who had shot himself. There was also a shotgun nearby.
Authorities do not believe the victims and the shooter had any verbal contact in the period leading up to the shooting, but they did have a history.
Crete Police Chief Gary Young said: “There was one report from victims that the suspect gave them the middle finger and told them to ‘go home’ or ‘go back to where they came from’ and ‘speak English’. “
That interaction took place in May, he said.
“That resolved the situation, so we had no further contact,” Young said.
A reporter asked if there was a racial motive for the shooting.
“That could be the case, but we don’t know,” Young said. “Certainly, the context of ‘Go Home’ and ‘Speak English’ lends itself to that,” he said.
Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to contact authorities. The shooting and motive remain under investigation.
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