5 Confirmed Dead in Tragic Yuma, Ariz. Shootings, Suspect Identified

YUMA, Ariz. (The Blaze/AP)—Yuma police say five people have been killed in a shooting that has forced authorities to close schools and the courthouse. Details about the shooter and victims were not immediately clear.

The Yuma Sun has more:

One other victim has been injured and airlifted to a Phoenix-area hospital.

Norred said the shootings are connected, and are currently under investigation.

Four of the fatal shootings took place out in the county, Norred said, while the fifth person was killed in Yuma.

Norred would not confirm the identity of any of the victims, but attorneys in the downtown Yuma area confirmed the Yuma victim was attorney Jerrold Shelley, who was shot and killed.

Norred also wouldn't confirm if the suspect was alive or dead. However, traffic on the police scanner said the suspect in the shootings had taken his own life.

MSNBC continues:

The Yuma County Sheriff's Office was called to the first scene this morning, when the body of a woman was found in a yard at Avenue 35-1/2E and Old Highway 80, the Sun said.

Around 9:21 a.m., the Yuma Police Department responded to a shooting in the 300 block of 2nd Avenue in Yuma, which is where Shelley was killed.

According to police scanner traffic followed by the Sun, two more shootings were reported in the Wellton area, followed by a report of a self-inflicted gunshot wound near Blaisdell off Highway 95. The Yuma Sun was not able to confirm the location of the sixth shooting

Wellton Mayor James Deermer said that he doesn't have a lot of information about the shooting yet, but he called the incident a "tragedy." According to the Yuma Sun:

Yuma Mayor Al Krieger commended public safety officers for their swift response to the tragedy.

“The situation has ended and now we’re sorting out the details,” he said.

"My sympathies to the families with this loss of life."

This is a breaking news story. Stay tuned for updates.

UPDATE: From the Yuma Sun:

The suspect in a series of shootings around Yuma County is dead, police said. Carey Hal Dyess, 73, of Yuma, apparently shot and killed one person in Yuma and three people in Yuma County before shooting himself, according to a press release from the Yuma Police Department.