» Four dead

ASHLAND, Ill. (WAND) – Four people, including a suspect, are dead and one person was injured in a crime spree in rural Ashland.

Thursday, Cass County Sheriff’s Deputies, the Ashland Police Department, Beardstown Police Department, and Beardstown EMS were called out to the 300 block of Philadelphia Road in rural Ashland for a man who had been shot.

Illinois State Police and Pleasant Plains Police were also called in to assist.

When Cass County Sheriff’s Deputies and Ashland Police Department arrived, they found a man with a gunshot wound and a deceased woman at the home.

Deputies gave aid to the male victim until EMS arrived.

Based on information given by the male victim the Cass County Sheriff’s Office, Ashland Police, Beardstown Police responded to another residence in Ashland and found two more women dead.

A preliminary investigation identified a suspect and suspect vehicle. A short time later, the Jacksonville Police Department found the suspect vehicle near North Main and Oak Street in Jacksonville and conducted a traffic stop on the suspect vehicle.

The suspect was located inside the vehicle with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. The male suspect was pronounced dead on-scene by the Morgan County Coroner’s Office.

The surviving male victim was transported to an area hospital with life-threatening injuries.

The investigation is still active and on-going.

Illinois State Police Zone 4 Investigations, Illinois State Police Crime Scene Division, Illinois State Police Patrol, Ashland Police Department, Beardstown Police Department, Pleasant Plains Police Department, Cass County Sheriff’s Office, and Menard County Sheriff’s Office were the police agencies involved in the case.

“Please keep the families and communities involved in these horrific events in your thoughts and prayers,” the Cass County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. “Additional information will be released this afternoon.”