(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-02-28 11:19

WASHINGTON --- A young gunman fatally shot four people before committing suicide in Bristol, Tennessee on Wednesday afternoon, police said.

Bristol police chief Blaine Wade told reporters that the shooting, which took place in the Edgemont Towers apartment complex in downtown Bristol, is thought to be "domestic-violence related."

Three victims were killed at the scene while the fourth died in hospital later.

The shooter, 26-year-old Rusty Rumley of Watauga, Tennessee, fled the scene in a car.

The vehicle later crashed some 40 km away and police found Rumley's body nearby.

The autopsy showed he died from self-inflicted gunshot wounds.

The victims have not been identified and police were still trying to find out details of the case and motives of the shooter.

Bristol is located on Tennessee's border with Virginia, with a population of 24,000.