The authorities in Tennessee said they took a man into custody on Saturday in connection with seven killings at two homes in a rural, wooded part of the state.

The circumstances of the killings — the bodies were found less than one mile apart, in a part of Sumner County about 50 miles northeast of Nashville — largely remained a mystery, and a motive remained unclear.

The authorities said the man, Michael Cummins, 25, was taken into custody Saturday night after a search that lasted hours. He was found in a creek bed and cornered by more than a dozen officers about a mile away from one of the killing scenes, the authorities said.

They said Mr. Cummins was shot in the leg by one of the officers. They did not provide any further details about the encounter, or about what information led them to seek him in connection with the killings.