The murder of a man by his girlfriend’s cousin marked the 11th fatal shooting in Limestone County so far in 2018, three of which were self-inflicted. The cousin killed himself after the shooting, resulting in the third murder-suicide in as many weeks.

According to witnesses, John Few, 34, had pulled into the driveway of the home he shared with 48-year-old Jason Wooldridge and others. Few was still in the car and on the phone with a friend, according to Limestone County Sheriff’s Deputy Stephen Young, when the friend heard Few tell Wooldridge to “put down the gun.”

Moments later, the friend heard gunfire.

A female called 911 at 12:18 a.m. Monday to report the deaths of the two men. Authorities arrived to find Few and Wooldridge “within close proximity to each other,” and “a small handgun was located next to Wooldridge on the ground,” Young said.

Few had been shot once in the chest and once in the head. Wooldridge had been shot once in the head.

“The motive for the shooting is unclear at this time,” Young said. “However, witnesses did tell investigators Wooldridge had a history of drug problems and had recently been acting erratically.”

3rd in 3 weeks

Since June 29, fewer than three weeks ago, eight people have died in connection with apparent murder-suicides, including Few and Wooldridge. Sheriff’s deputies responded June 29 to a mobile home on Airfield Street in Athens, where two men had been shot.

One of the men, later identified as 37-year-old Rigoberto Sanchez-Ocampo, was transported to Huntsville Hospital, where he later died. His brother, 43-year-old Adolfo Sanchez-Ocampo, died at the scene.

Witnesses initially described a third person as a possible suspect in the shooting. However, Young said, the description matched one of the victims.

He said the incident is being investigated as a murder-suicide. Authorities believe Adolfo shot Rigoberto before shooting himself but are awaiting autopsy results to confirm.

Two days after the Airfield Street shooting, on July 1, 41-year-old Darwin Brazier drove to the house in Ardmore where his ex-wife, 41-year-old Debra Hartley Rivera, lived. There, he opened fire, killing Rivera, her 41-year-old husband Radex Rivera and their roommate, Timothy James Hayward-Boger.

Records show Debra had applied twice in Limestone County for a protection from abuse order against Brazier and had been denied both times.

According to a statement from LCSO, Brazier “died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound near his residence at Cook Road in Madison County.”

8 fatal shootings in 2018

Since the beginning of the year, there have been eight fatal shootings reported in Limestone County, including an accidental shooting and a murder by gun within the Athens city limits.

Athens Police responded Jan. 25 to a shooting on Levert Avenue. There, 35-year-old Cheryl L. Holt was found dead of an apparent gunshot wound. Her husband told police he had accidentally shot her.

A few days later, in a separate case, 34-year-old Darius Allen was killed in an “eye-for-an-eye” shooting, according to investigators. Antonio Shalamar Jacobs and Dewayne Lee Sloan were charged in the murder.

Athens Police Investigator Jonathan Caldwell testified during preliminary hearings for Jacobs and Sloan that Allen’s wife told authorities Jacobs and Sloan intentionally went after and murdered her husband in retaliation for him shooting into Jacob’s mother’s house the week before.

The shooting occurred at the intersection of U.S. 72 and Brownsferry Street. Allen was able to continue traveling on U.S. 72 before his vehicle left the road near Reynard Street, striking a utility pole and coming to a stop in a ditch.

Back in the county, 22-year-old Mikus Peoples was shot Feb. 26 after a fight with his brother, 17-year-old Kobe Keshone Peoples. Mikus was transported to Huntsville Hospital, where he later died.

Kobe was charged with murder and is currently free on $25,000 bond.

Jacobs and Sloan remain jailed on charges of capital murder.

These deaths, in addition to the others, come to a total thus far of eight homicide deaths in 2018 in Limestone County, a place that averaged 4.1 homicide deaths per 100,000 people in 2017, according to Data USA, and only had about 95,000 in its population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.