By Steve Gorman(Reuters) - A man who fatally shot eight people in Illinois over the weekend before taking own life as law enforcement closed in on him in Texas was a family relative to most of his victims, but his motives remain a mystery, police said on Tuesday.
The suspect, 23-year-old Romeo Nance, shot himself to death on Monday night as U.S. marshals gave chase outside a gasoline station near San Antonio, Texas, ending a manhunt that began 24 hours earlier about 1,200 miles (1,930 km) to the north outside Chicago, police said.
Will County sheriff's deputies tied that slaying to the getaway car used in the nearby shooting of another man who survived his attack with a leg wound.
Dan Jungles, deputy chief sheriff, said Nance had an "extensive criminal history" but that getting answers to the killings may ultimately confound investigators.
"We may never know the truth of the motive behind these senseless killings," he said.
Persons:
Steve Gorman, Romeo Nance, Nance, Williams Evans, Evans, Dan, Stephen Coates
Organizations:
Reuters, Joliet Police
Locations:
Illinois, Texas, San Antonio , Texas, Chicago, Joliet , Illinois, Nigerian, Will County, Los Angeles