July 4, 2009

GAFFNEY, S.C. -- Authorities say a teenage girl shot in her father's store has become the fifth person slain by a suspected serial killer.

Cherokee County Coroner Dennis Fowler says 15-year-old Abby Tyler died at a Spartanburg hospital Saturday morning. Her death came two days after she was wounded and her father was killed Thursday at their family's furniture and appliance shop near downtown Gaffney.

Sheriff Bill Blanton says investigators believe the killings are linked and the search is on for a suspected serial killer. An 83-year-old mother and her daughter were shot to death on Wednesday, and a 63-year-old peach farmer was found dead a week ago.

Blanton says all the victims were shot but would not say how the
deaths were linked.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)