Virginia shooting victims include suspect's sister

APPOMATTOX, Va. - The victims of a gunman's violent rampage in central Virginia included the suspect's sister and brother-in-law, as well as two other adults, three teenagers and a 4-year-old boy, according to authorities who charged the alleged shooter yesterday with first-degree murder.

Christopher Bryan Speight, 39, a security guard, surrendered at daybreak after leading investigators on an 18- hour manhunt following the slayings at a house in rural central Virginia where deputies found a mortally wounded man and seven bodies.

A bomb squad discovered a multitude of explosives at Speight's home, and crews were detonating the devices into the night.

Speight had no weapons when he surrendered.

He was charged with one count of first-degree murder, but other charges are likely. He's being held in a jail in Lynchburg.

Speight co-owned and lived in the home. David Anderson, co-owner of the Sunshine Market grocery store in Lynchburg, where Speight sometimes provided security, said Speight was worried that his sister and brother-in-law wanted to kick him out of the house. The two recently moved in with Speight, he said.

Speight's mother deeded the house to Speight and his sister in 2006, shortly before she died of brain cancer. His mother's obituary listed the daughter as Lauralee Sipe and her husband as Dewayne Sipe.

State police identified the Sipes, both 38, as two of the victims, along with Ronald Scruggs, 16, Emily Quarles, 15, Karen and Jonathan Quarles, both 43, Morgan Dobyns, 15, and Joshua Sipe, 4. - AP