Hispanic Family Said White Neighbor Shouted 'Speak English.' Then He Shot 7 People, Including 4 Kids

Billy Booth, 74, was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound inside his home after shooting and injuring seven neighbors, police said

KETV Shooting in Crete, Nebraska

A Nebraska man who told his Hispanic neighbors to “go back to where they came from” and to “speak English” shot and injured seven of them, including four children, before fatally shooting himself, authorities said.

On Friday at 4:43 p.m., Nebraska State Patrol responded to multiple calls about an active shooter in the city of Crete, State Patrol Col. John Bolduc said at a press conference Saturday that was reviewed by PEOPLE.

Crete city police officers and Celine County deputies who arrived on the scene could still hear gunshots erupting on the quiet street.

In the chaos, officers and EMTs carried victims from the rear of the house to a safe location where they could be treated and taken to the hospital, he said.

When officers reached the victims’ house, “they heard one single gunshot come from the home behind them,” Bolduc said.

Authorities identified seven victims in total, he said. Three of the victims are adults, ages 22 to 43. The other four are children, ages 3 to 10, he said.

Six victims were taken to local hospitals. A seventh victim realized later that he had been shot, he said.

Three remain hospitalized, including two children, according to a news release from NSP.

Fifteen people live at the home where the victims were shot. Some were inside when gunfire erupted, but most were outside.

At least one victim was shot while inside the home, he said.

As victims were being evacuated from the scene, deputies set up a perimeter to keep other neighbors safe.

All of the gunfire had come from another home, where a SWAT team barricaded the shooter, identified as Billy Booth, 74, inside.

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When they entered the home, they found Booth dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, with a shotgun lying nearby.

Authorities do not believe the victims and the shooter had any verbal contact in the moments leading up to the shooting. But they did have prior history.

Crete Police Chief Gary Young said “there was a single report from victims that the subject had flipped them off, told them to ‘go home’ or ‘back to where they came from,’  ‘speak English,” he said.

That interaction took place in May, he said.

"That resolved the situation, so we had no further contact," Young said.

One reporter asked if the shooting had a racial motivation.

"There could be, we don't know,” Young said. "Certainly the context of 'Go home' and 'Speak English' lends itself to that," he said.

Anyone with information on the shooting is asked to contact authorities. The shooting and motive remain under investigation.

Read the original article on People.