Prosecutors are investigating a Facebook threat that mentioned one of the eight members of an Ohio family who were shot and killed execution-style last week, authorities said.
Christopher Rhoden Jr, 16, was murdered Friday along with seven relatives in a spree of shootings across four rural locations in Pike County that may have been connected to a marijuana-growing operation in the area.
The message’s content and who sent it has not been revealed.
The post is just one piece of evidence prosecutors have gathered as tcomb through clues to track down the gunman.
"I'm aware of the Facebook threat," Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine told CBS News. "Every piece of information is valuable and our investigators are certainly taking that into consideration."
Detectives uncovered marijuana ‘grow operations’ in three of the four houses where the victims were shot dead.
Investigators are trying to determine if a Facebook threat was connected to the brutal killing of eight family members in Ohio.
But officials said it was too soon to determine if the marijuana grow operations and the murders were directly connected.
Officials have called the shooting spree a “pre-planned” execution.
Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader, said most of the victims were targeted while they were sleeping. He said it was clear the family was targeted and that he has warned the surviving members of the Rhoden family to take precautions and arm themselves.
"I cautioned them, told them we will be there," Reader told CBS News. "I told (them) to be armed."
One member of the family, who asked not to be identified, said the relatives are "torn up" over the murders.
"And you know what I mean, kinda freaked out because we don't know. There's still killers on the loose, or killer," he told CBS.
Investigators have interviewed more than 30 people in hopes of finding leads in the deaths.
Eighteen pieces of evidence were being examined for DNA clues, DeWine said, but he would not reveal what they were.
Police also refused to reveal what type of gun or bullets were used and whether they had identified a suspect.
read more