Food dispute ... Paul Gilkey shot three people, then himself. Credit:US police Killed at the home were Darlene Gilkey's sisters, Barbara Mohler, 70, and Dorothy Cherry, 63. Also killed was Paul Gilkey's son, Leroy Gilkey, 38. Sheriff North said events leading to the shootings began earlier in the day when some of the victims had apparently served Darlene Gilkey tea and toast after Paul Gilkey had already peeled an orange for her. That led to an argument that escalated over a period of time and culminated in the shootings, the sheriff said. "It was over her well-being, her care," the sheriff said.

Shot dead ... Leroy Gilkey. Credit:US police As the argument heated up about 5pm on Monday, Paul Gilkey left the living room where his wife's bed was, went to a bedroom where he got a gun, returned to the living room and started shooting. The sheriff said Gilkey shot Mohler first, then ordered Sowers to leave. Gilkey then shot his son and again ordered Sowers to leave, before shooting Cherry. Sowers fled the house and drove up the road seeking a mobile phone signal to call for help. After Gilkey shot himself, his body stayed upright and in the darkness police couldn't tell if he was alive, Sheriff North said. That led to concerns about a hostage situation, although that wasn't the case.

I think he thought if he would kill her he would go to hell Deputies who stormed the home about 9pm on Monday found Paul Gilkey dead on the front porch and the three other bodies on the living room floor, Sheriff North said. The house sits at the end of a gravel lane amid rolling, wooded hills dotted with farmland near Logan, about 80 kilometres southeast of Columbus. Paul Gilkey, who went by David, served a decade in prison beginning in 1974 for killing a man in Athens County in May of that year, according to court records. A cousin of Paul Gilkey said Gilkey was upset about other family members being in the house.

"They - the two sisters and his son - were staying out there, and he said he couldn't spend any time with her," Matthew Henderson, 45, said on Tuesday. Henderson said his own wife happened to call the home immediately after the shooting and spoke with Darlene Gilkey, who said that her 63-year-old husband "shot everybody" and then went outside. "I said, 'What's he doing?' [She said] 'I think he's waiting on more people to come so he could kill them,'" Henderson recounted. The wife didn't say why she'd been spared, Henderson said. "I think he thought if he would kill her he would go to hell," he said. Henderson said his cousin had recently bought two or three plots at a cemetery, though it didn't seem unusual for a man whose wife had terminal cancer. He described Paul Gilkey as unpredictable and unstable and said that he might have taken some pills and been drinking before the shooting.

"I thought what would happen is that he would wait until she passed away and then he would shoot himself," he said. "I didn't think he would shoot other people, I thought he would take his own life." Leroy Gilkey was a high school Spanish teacher in the Westerville school district in suburban Columbus. Gilkey was "a very well loved and well respected teacher among students, among his colleagues and among the families that send their children to Westerville North [High School]", said Greg Viebranz, a spokesman for the school district. Neighbours said they were shocked by the bloodshed. John Poling, who lives down the road, said he didn't know the couple but believed they had moved into their home within the past 10 years. He said he watched from a distance on Monday night as law enforcement and SWAT officers closed in. The killings have rocked the area, the sheriff said.

"This is normally a pretty quiet county," Sheriff North said. "We have a few major crimes occasionally but nothing of this magnitude." AP * Support is available for anyone who may be distressed by calling Lifeline 131 114, Mensline 1300 789 978, Kids Helpline 1800 551 800.