Suspect in US Louisiana shooting captured

HOUSTON, Jan. 27 -- The suspect in deadly US Louisiana shootings that left five people dead was caught on Sunday after a day-long manhunt, authorities confirmed.

The Ascension Parish Sheriff's Office in Louisiana said that 21-year-old Dakota Theriot was arrested Sunday morning in Richmond County, Virginia.

Theriot is charged with two counts of first-degree murder, home invasion, and illegal use of weapons. According to investigators, he shot and killed his parents and three other people in Louisiana on Saturday.

Ascension Parish Sheriff Bobby Webre said Saturday that deputies were called to a trailer in the city of Gonzales, about 40 kilometers southeast of Louisiana's capital Baton Rouge, for a "domestic incident" on Saturday morning. Upon arrival, deputies found Elizabeth and Keith Theriot, both 51, who had been shot but were still alive.

Webre said deputies were able to interview one of the victims before they were transported to a hospital in Baton Rouge, where they later died.

From that interview, authorities identified the couple's 21-year-old son, Dakota, as the "prime suspect in this case." He is being sought on first-degree murder and other charges.

The sheriff said three other shooting deaths occurred Saturday in neighboring Livingston parishes, about 50 kilometers east of Baton Rouge.

Livingston Parish Sheriff Jason Ard confirmed on Facebook that three deaths happened in his parish and identified the victims as Billy Ernest, 43; Tanner Ernest, 17; and Summer Ernest, 20.

Authorities believed the shootings in the two parishes are connected, and investigators from both jurisdictions are working together.

The shootings prompted a multi-state manhunt for the suspect before he was located in Virginia.