'Marriage link' in US shooting

30/03/2009 15:57:12

US police are investigating a domestic link as the possible motive for the shooting of eight people at a North Carolina nursing home on Sunday.

The estranged wife of suspected gunman Robert Stewart, 45, worked at the Pinelake Health and Rehab Center in Carthage, reports say.

Seven residents and one nurse were among the fatalities. A police officer and the gunman were also injured.

A district attorney said the suspect would be charged with eight murders.

Police chief Chris McKenzie said domestic issues were being investigated as a possible motive for the attack.

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Police Chief Chris McKenzie describes what happened at the nursing home in Carthage "We're certainly looking into the fact that it may be domestic-related," he told AP news agency.

Officials said the death-toll could have been higher if 25-year-old policeman Justin Garner had not wounded Mr Stewart during an exchange of gunfire in the hallway.

The officer was wounded in the leg.

The Carthage facility, about 100 km (60 miles) south-west of Raleigh, has around 100 beds and specialises in caring for people with Alzheimer's.

"Robert Stewart is in custody facing these eight counts of murder, felony assault on a law enforcement officer," Moore County district attorney Maureen Krueger said on Sunday.