Alabama shooting: Teenage boy 'kills entire family' in rampage at home

Fourteen-year-old confesses to shooting after calling the police, officials say

A 14-year-old boy shot and killed five of his family members on Monday night in Alabama before throwing away the gun and calling the police, officials said.

The teenager admit to the shooting when he was interviewed by a responding officer, according to the Limestone County Sheriff’s Office.

The boy is “currently assisting investigators in locating weapon, a 9mm handgun that he said he tossed nearby,” a statement read.

The sheriff’s office said five people were shot, with three dying at the scene and two later in hospital. It was not immediately clear when or how the the boy obtained the gun.

The killings follow a rash of mass shootings in the US, including one in Texas that left seven people dead and 22 wounded, including a toddler.

Last month, a gunman killed 22 people and wounded another 24 in El Paso, Texas, while another assailant killed nine and injured 27 in Dayton, Ohio.

That gunman, who went on a shooting rampage across West Texas, obtained an assault-style rifle despite failing a background check, state and law enforcement officials said on Monday.

The gunman, identified by police as Seth Aaron Ator, 36, carried out the shooting spree in the neighbouring cities of Midland and Odessa on Saturday, a short time after he was fired from his trucking job.

He called local emergency 911 responders and then an FBI tip line to make rambling statements, officials said.

The officials noted the reported gunman did not threaten to commit violence in those calls.

Amid renewed national debate, Donald Trump said at the weekend background checks on gun purchasers would not have prevented recent violence.

The 14-year-old involved in the Alabama shooting has not yet been identified.

Additional reporting by Reuters