North Carolina Shooting: 7 Family Members Dead In Suspected Murder-Suicide

Police in a small North Carolina town continue to investigate a possible murder-suicide shooting Sunday that left six family members and the shooter dead.

Chatham County sheriff deputies responded to a call about shots fired in the early evening in the city of Moncure, which is located about 30 miles southwest of Raleigh.

The Chatham County Sheriff’s Office identified the shooter as 66-year-old Larry Ray. There have been no reports as to the relationship Ray had with the family members.

The victims occupied multiple residences on one property. They include Ellis Mansfield, 73, Lisa Mansfield, 54, Helen Mason, 93, John Paul Sanderford, 41, Nicole Sanderford, 39, and Jeanie Ray, 67.

A motive for the shooting remains unclear. The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation are also involved in the investigation.

A 911 call was released Monday afternoon in which the caller claims to be taking refuge in a closet and that he hasn't seen the shooter.

“To lose any family member is devastating, but to lose several at once to unexpected violence is unimaginable,” Sheriff Mike Roberson said. “There are no words to describe the sense of loss we feel as a community in the wake of this terrible event.”

“Right now, they’re still in shock, and they don’t want to talk to anybody,” said Mark Childress, whose brother lost his daughter, son-in-law, and mother-in-law in the shootings.

Moncure has an estimated population of around 700. A Sheriff’s office spokeswoman described the town as “a quiet, close-knit community where violence is out of the norm, making the news even more disturbing.”