H  POLICE SHOOT TO DEATH SUSPECT IN S.C. KILLING SPREE 

S1  A man shot and killed by police officers during a burglary here early Monday was identified by law enforcement authorities as the suspect in a string of five shooting deaths in South Carolina over the last 10 days.

S2  Sheriff Bill Blanton of Cherokee County, S.C., where the killings took place, confirmed Monday evening that the authorities had been seeking the man killed in the burglary, Patrick T. Burris, a felon with a long record who had served seven years in prison and was paroled in April.

S3  Police still are trying to establish a motive for the killings and any connection between the victims and the suspect.
S4 The investigation, Blanton said, would shift to learning more about Burris, and whom he traveled with and where he had been.
S5 "It's not over," he said.
S6 "It's just changing gears."

S7  The killings started June 27 with the shooting of a 63-year-old peach farmer, found in his home in Gaffney.
S8 Four days later, an 83-year-old woman and her 50-year-old daughter were found bound and shot inside the mother's home.
S9 The next day, a man and his 15-year-old daughter were shot inside their family's store about a mile from downtown Gaffney.

S10  Evidence collected at the crime scene and characteristics of Burris' vehicle linked him to the killings, authorities said.
S11 They declined to give details.

S12  The shootings terrified residents along the state line between North and South Carolina, leading many to carry weapons, and prompting business owners to keep their doors locked.

S13  On Monday, about 3 a.m., police in North Carolina received a report of a suspicious vehicle backing up to a vacant house.
S14 When police arrived, authorities said, Burris opened fire and was killed when the officers fired back.

S15  Burris had been convicted of multiple crimes in at least four states, and his criminal history was 25 pages long.

S16  "At some point, the criminal justice system is going to have to explain why this gentleman was out on the streets," said Reggie Lloyd, director of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.

