Police search for motive in Illinois mass killing

Police are still searching for a motive after a man suspected of killing eight people in Joliet, Illinois, took his own life after a cross-country manhunt.

Romeo Nance, 23, died after authorities tracked him down more than 1,000 miles (1,600km) away in Texas.

Nance is suspected of killing eight people at multiple locations in Joliet.

Seven of the victims were in two houses on the same street. Police say Nance also shot two other people, one fatally.

Joliet Police Chief Bill Evans said on Tuesday that Nance had an extensive criminal history and was related to most of the seven people found dead in the two houses, which are across the street from each other.

But he said that the other two shootings were random and that authorities are still searching for a motive in what he called a "very complicated and active investigation".

"We can't get inside his head," Mr Evans said at a news conference. "We just don't have any clue as to why he did what he did."

Mr Evans said that five women were found in the homes along with two men.

Some of those victims have been identified by officials. They are Christine Esters, 38, Tamaeka Nance, 47, William Esters, 35, Joshua Nance, 31, and Alexandria Nance, 20.

The names of two other victims, teenage girls aged 14 and 16, have not been released.

Authorities believe Nance killed those seven people before carrying out two other shootings elsewhere in Joliet, a city of about 150,000 people some 40 miles (64km) south-west of Chicago.

One of the attacks resulted in the death of a 28-year-old Toyosi Bakare, who was shot in the head as he left his apartment to buy cigarettes, authorities said.

Police said Mr Bakare was originally from Nigeria and had been living in the US for the past three years. He was taken to a nearby hospital, where he later died.

The other victim was an unnamed 42-year-old man shot in the leg on Sunday, resulting in non-life threatening injuries.

Video of the incident shows the victim exchanging words with the driver of a red Toyota Camry, which pulls away and returns before gunshots are heard.

Police said they were able to trace the licence plate number on the Camry, which led them to Nance and the two houses with other victims.

That discovery sparked a manhunt for the suspect, who authorities warned "should be regarded as armed and dangerous".

But by that time, Nance had left the area and had fled south, police said.

Mugshot of Romeo Nance

He was located by US Marshals near Natalia, Texas, just outside San Antonio and about 18 hours from Joliet by road, at approximately 20:30 local time on Monday (02:30 GMT Tuesday).

Police said they do not believe he had any relatives or connections to Texas.

"I've been a policeman 29 years and this is probably the worst crime scene I've ever been associated with," Mr Evans said during an earlier news conference in Joliet.