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6 killed in shootings near Philadelphia

Posted at 11:27 AM, Dec 15, 2014
and last updated 2014-12-15 16:36:19-05

(CNN)[Breaking news update at 3:40 p.m.]

Officials in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, are seeking a man suspected in the deaths of six people and the serious wounding of another at three sites near Philadelphia on Monday. All “have a familial relationship” to the suspect, Bradley William Stone, 35, the Montgomery County district attorney’s office said in a statement.

[Previous story posted at 11:48 a.m.]

At least four people were dead after shootings Monday in three communities near Philadelphia in what a law enforcement official said appeared to be a domestic dispute.

The gunman shot and killed his former wife and then shot and killed other members of his family at a different location Monday morning, the official said.

The law enforcement official initially said five people had been killed but said later that four were dead. The official said the suspect had barricaded himself in a home, but CNN affiliate WPVI-TV in Philadelphia reported Monday afternoon that he was on the loose.

The shootings happened at several places in Montgomery County, said John Corcoran, deputy director of public safety there.

The first shooting happened just before 4 a.m. in Lower Salford Township, a community of about 15,000, according to WPVI. It said one person was killed in that shooting and two others were killed in Lansdale, a nearby community of about the same size.

WPVI reported that two additional people were shot to death in Souderton. Those communities are just north of Philadelphia.

CNN could not independently confirm those reports.

The Souderton area school district, in consultation with authorities, has lifted a lockdown and have resumed a normal day.