This undated photo provided by the Illinois State Police shows Rick Smith, 43, of rural Morgan County in Illinois. Smith has been identified as the suspected gunman in the shooting deaths of five people, two women, one man and two young boys, in Manchester, Ill., early Wednesday morning, April 24, 2013. Smith died later after a car chase and gunfire exchange with police. (AP Photo/Illinois State Police)
This undated photo provided by the Illinois State Police shows Rick Smith, 43, of rural Morgan County in Illinois. Smith has been identified as the suspected gunman in the shooting deaths of five people, two women, one man and two young boys, in Manchester, Ill., early Wednesday morning, April 24, 2013. Smith died later after a car chase and gunfire exchange with police. (AP Photo/Illinois State Police)
Police tape is seen around a house in Manchester, Ill., Wednesday, April 24, 2013, where the bodies of five people were found slain early Wednesday in the tiny southwestern Illinois town. Authorities said a suspect was injured and taken into custody. (AP Photo/Regina Garcia Cano)
Police officials investigate the scene at a house in Manchester, Ill., where five people were found slain in the tiny southwestern Illinois town early Wednesday, April 24, 2013. Illinois State Police said the suspect died after a car chase and an exchange of gunfire with law enforcement. (AP Photo/The State Journal-Register, Ted Schurter)
Illinois State Police Lt. Col. Todd Kilby addresses the media gathered in Manchester, Ill., after five people were found slain at a house early Wednesday, April 24, 2013. Authorities said the suspect died after a car chase and an exchange of gunfire with law enforcement. (AP Photo/The State Journal-Register, Ted Schurter)
Illinois State Police process the scene Wednesday, April 24, 2013, near Winchester, Ill., where a suspect that was wanted in the deaths of five people in nearby Manchester, Ill., was wounded after a car chase and an exchange of gunfire with law enforcement. The suspect, who was driving the white sedan, died later at a hospital. (AP Photo/The State Journal-Register, Ted Schurter)
MANCHESTER, Ill. (AP) ? The nephew of a small-town Illinois mayor shot and killed five people, including two boys, before leading police on a chase that ended in an exchange of gunfire that left him dead, authorities said Wednesday.
Illinois State Police said they believe Rick O. Smith, 43, entered a Manchester home through the back door and shot the victims at close range with a shotgun, leaving two women, one man and the boys dead. Two people were found in a bedroom, two in a second bedroom and the man in the hallway. A sixth victim, a 6-year-old girl, was injured and taken to a Springfield hospital.
"The offender took the 6-year-old out of the residence and put her in the hands of a neighbor," State Police Lt. Col. Todd Kilby said.
Officials have not revealed a motive for the killings. Police said the victims are related. Authorities believe Smith and the victims were acquainted, but they didn't provide details of the relationships.
A bystander called police and told them that Smith fled the home in a white sedan. A car chase ensued, leading authorities to the nearby town of Winchester, where Smith and officers exchanged gunfire. Officers shot Smith, and he later died at a hospital.
Police said they found a rifle, shotgun and large hunting knife in Smith's car.
Coroner officials said they plan autopsies on the victims Thursday morning in Bloomington and identities would be released at that time.
Scott County State's Attorney Michael Hill said Smith, of rural Morgan County, had previous convictions for reckless homicide, drugs and bad checks.
Manchester Mayor Ronald Drake confirmed that Smith was his nephew, saying he hadn't spoken to Smith in two years, but he believed his nephew was unemployed. Drake said the last time Smith contacted him was to borrow tools.
In Manchester, yellow police tape surrounded the small one-story brick home where the victims were found. Manchester is a village of about 300 residents located about 50 miles west of Springfield.
"It's a close-knit community," Drake said. "Everybody talks to everybody. ... We enjoy that goes on (in) town. This is just a tragedy for (the) whole town."
The last homicide in Scott County was 20 years ago, in 1993.
Manchester resident Julie Hardwick, 48, said she lives in the same county housing authority complex as the victims. Authorities told her she couldn't return to her home yet because of the investigation, she said.
"The kids were really nice," Hardwick said of the family. "You couldn't ask for better kids."
The Rev. Robin Lyons of Manchester United Methodist Church, one of two churches in the community said, "this shows tragedy can happen anywhere."
Two area school superintendents said they received calls from county sheriffs before 6 a.m. informing them that five people had been shot to death at a house in Manchester and that a suspect was at large.
Superintendent David Roberts of the Winchester School District and Les Stevens of the North Greene Unit District No. 3 both said they immediately canceled classes when they were told of the shootings and that other school districts did the same.
Roberts said the wounded girl is a student at Winchester Grade School and her teacher was with her at the Springfield hospital.
The school will use its own counselor, nurse and other staff members to help students who need to talk, Roberts said. Other area districts have offered to help too.
Roberts said he also will call on area ministers to be available on campus. "I've found that to be helpful in the past," he said.
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Associated Press writers Don Babwin and Jason Keyser in Chicago and David Mercer in Champaign, Ill., contributed to this report.
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