Maryland man, 27, shot dead his parents at their home and killed two people at a convenience store before setting his own apartment on fire and taking his own life
Police say they have no idea why a man shot dead four people, including his parents, in a killing spree that spanned several hours before setting his apartment on fire and turning the gun on himself.
Joshua Green, 27, killed his parents - Douglas Green, 59, and Olivia Green, 63 - at their Baltimore County home before he drove over to a Royal Farms store in Essex just before 7am on Sunday.
He shot dead two people and wounded another person at the convenience store.
Green was then found dead outside his own apartment building from a self-inflicted gunshot wound hours later.
Police say he had set fire to his apartment before killing himself.
Joshua Green, 27, is accused of shooting up a Royal Farms convenience store in Essex, Maryland on Sunday where two people were shot dead and another person was wounded
Investigators are still trying to work out a motive in the killing spree.
Baltimore County Police Col. Andre Davis said on Monday that the gun used was registered to Green and had been legally purchased last year.
'As to why this occurred, we have no idea yet,' Davis said. 'Our homicide detectives are tirelessly investigating a motive, but it appears that the shooter acted alone.'
Police were first alerted to the shootings when Green went to the Royal Farms store just before 7am on Sunday.
Police said he shot and killed Alpha Elizabeth, 63, who was sitting inside her car outside the store.
Green then entered the store and fatally shot a customer, 44-year-old Silvester Day Jr., near a cash register before wounding a store employee.
The employee suffered a gunshot wound to the leg and is recovering in hospital.
After the shooting, police said, Green returned to his nearby home and set fire to his apartment before shooting himself.
Police found the apartment engulfed in flames and Green dead in the parking lot with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
When police went to his parent's home to notify them of Green's death, they discovered the bodies.
Police said he shot and killed Alpha Elizabeth, 63, who was sitting inside her car outside the store. Green then entered the store and fatally shot a customer, 44-year-old Silvester Day Jr., near a cash register before wounding a store employee
A young man sits on the curb grieving, with a bouquet of roses on the grass that he brought to the scene of a shooting Sunday
Investigators are still piecing together a timeline of the killing spree. They were first alerted to the shootings when Green went to the Royal Farms store just before 7am on Sunday
Police said his parents both appeared to have been shot.
Davis said Green had 'no criminal contacts with police' before the shootings.
Police Chief Melissa Hyatt said that there were 'more questions than answers' about a 'horrific and sickening event which changed the lives of many people.'
'For now, we know that four innocent people lost their lives and one person sustained serious injuries,' she said.
Hyatt said police have spoken to a relative of Green but she didn't elaborate.
'When we are able to definitively have facts and information, we will relay that. We just want to make sure that we are putting out accurate information,' the chief said.
Royal Farms spokesperson Breahna Brown said the company had no immediate comment on the shooting at its store.
Daniel Brennaman, 73, a neighbor who lives two doors down from the home where the bodies of Green's parents were found, said he noticed a police cruiser and saw a photographer out in front of the house when he was walking his dog on Sunday evening.
'A storm blew through here and I thought it was a car accident around the corner,' he said. 'I haven't heard a thing.'
Brennaman said he has exchanged greetings and small talk with the husband and wife but couldn't recall their names and didn't know them personally.
'I wave at him from time to time. He's always working in his yard,' he said.
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