Names of Johnson County shooting victims released

(KOTA)
Published: Feb. 10, 2018 at 6:34 PM EST
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Five people are dead, including the suspected gunman, in two shootings Saturday that police called a "horrific murder spree" in Johnson County.

Johnson County Sheriff Dwayne Price says in a Facebook post Saturday night: "This has been a horrific murder spree."

Price says Paintsville authorities received a 911 call at 3:33 p.m. Saturday about a shooting at a residence in the McKenzie Branch community. Price and responding deputies found two victims dead in the kitchen.

Those victims were identified Sunday as Arlene and Wayne Nickell, who the coroner says are the parents of the suspected gunman, Joseph Nickell.

Deputies later received a tip that the suspect's vehicle was on Mill Street in Paintsville. Deputies say two additional victims, identified Sunday as Joseph Nickell's girlfriend Lindsay Vanhoose and her mother Patricia Vanhoose, were found dead inside an apartment. Police say Nickell took his own life after committing the murders.

Sheriff Price stated, “There are no words to describe the heartbreak in seeing four lives taken due to the actions of one man. I have worked in law enforcement for 34 years. This is one of the most disturbing acts of violence I have ever seen.”