KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Authorities say seven people were shot to death and one was wounded in attacks in a small southeastern Missouri town, and the suspected gunman was found dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Missouri State Highway Patrol Sgt. Jeff Kinder said Friday morning he could not release any information on the motive or whether the 36-year-old gunman and the victims were connected.

The names of the victims will not be released until relatives are notified.

The victims’ bodies were found in four different homes in Tyrone, in Texas County, about 40 miles north of the Arkansas border.

The Texas County Sheriff’s Office received a call about 10:15 p.m. Thursday from a young woman who said she had fled to a neighbor’s home after hearing gunshots in her house, Kinder said. When officers arrived, they found two people dead in that home.

Officers later found five more victims and one injured person in three additional homes.

The body of an older woman was found in another home but she appeared to have died of natural causes, Kinder said.

The highway patrol is assisting Texas County Sheriff’s Department in the investigation.