Story highlights "We have a specific family that's been targeted," Pike County sheriff says

He said there's been no threat to the community at large

Seven adults, one teenager killed in "execution style" shootings, authorities say

(CNN) Eight family members found dead in a rural southern Ohio community were shot in the head "execution style," most while they slept, authorities said Friday.

Officers are searching for the killer or killers, who are probably armed and a danger to surviving family members, Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader said.

"We have a specific family that's been targeted but I don't think there's been a threat to any other members of the community," he said. "I've given the family precautionary measures to make. They know we're available."

Investigators discovered seven adults and a 16-year-old dead at four crime scenes, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said. The victims included a mother slain while her 4-day-old child lay beside her, he said.

That child, along with a 6-month-old and a 3-year-old, survived the killings, Reader said.

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