Neighbor, 74, shoots seven individuals, together with 4 youngsters

A suspected racially motivated shooting in suburban Nebraska has left seven people injured.

The gunfire came from 74-year-old Crete resident Billy Booth Friday, and culminated with him turning the gun on himself and taking his own life, cops said.

The incident occurred just before 4 pm local time, and spurred a pronounced police response. 

Four of the victims were children ranging in age from 3 to 10 and three were adults, State Troopers said – electing not to name those affected as some recover from non-life-threatening injuries in local hospitals.

All are believed to be Hispanic, and some have already been released. The late gunman reportedly told residents of the targeted home last month to go back to where they came from, while telling them to speak English, cops said.

‘There could be, we don’t know,’ Nebraska Crete Police Chief Gary Young said Saturday When asked if investigators believe the shooting was racially motivated.

‘Certainly the context of “Go home” and “Speak English” lends itself to that.’

The day before, cops vetting the case said they believed six were injured – three kids and three adults – until ‘a seventh patient realized he had been injured later in the evening,’ Colonel John A. Bolduc of Nebraska State Patrol revealed.

During a subsequent press conference Saturday, he confirmed that “multiple rounds were fired” by Booth from inside his own house next-door, stating that the exact number of shots fired was unknown.

He did, however, state that ‘all of the injuries [were] consistent with shotgun blast injuries,’ and that ‘most of the victims were outside of the home at the time of the shooting.

At least one, he said, was inside the home when they were struck, and all are expected to survive.

The seven were part of a bigger party of 15 gathered at the residence for an apparent gettogether, he added  – stating how for now, it remains unclear who was a resident and who was visiting.

‘Recovery will be a long road for some of them,’ he said of the victims.

A friend of one of them, Joshua Morales, spoke to KETV to claim the shooter had previously made incendiary remarks and ‘shot the house up.’ 

He said the man now confirmed as Booth shot his friend along with that person’s  mother. The latter, he said, was shot four times in her back.

“[Booth] was supposedly telling [the friend’s] parents to go back to their country, and they got into problems,’ he said.

‘And I guess until now the dude just shot the house up. I guess it was just a racist thing that happened.

‘So, I guess the dude that shot them was just racist cause he shot a Hispanic family and he told a Hispanic family to go back to their country.’

Cops added that they believed no words were exchanged in the buildup to the event, but that Booth and the family did have prior history.

This included tiffs over parking and other small nuisances, along with the single report that the suspect had told them to go back to where they came from and to speak English while flipping them off back in May.

The Crete Police Department confirmed they received a call about the incident, and that the family decided not to take the matter any further.

In a statement from cooperating State officials, officers recalled how when cops arrived, they came across a range victims suffering from gunshot wounds outside the residence – as well as the suspect inside his own home. 

A SWAT team, in turn, responded to apprehend what was believed to be ‘a barricaded subject,’ Bolduc said – after which they heard ‘one single gunshot’ emanate from the home across the street.

Inside, they found Booth deceased from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot, along with two firearms – one of which being the shotgun believed to have been used in both incidents. 

Boldouc said that, to his knowledge, Booth was legally allowed to carry a firearm. 

‘All gunfire had come from a single residence at 1810 Parkland Street,’ Bolduc said, mentioning the suspect’s home where he was found.

He added that as of early Saturday afternoon, four patients have been treated and released from area hospitals.

Three others remain at a hospital receiving care, said – including two at Children’s Hospital in Omaha and one at Bryan Health West Campus in Lincoln. 

All injuries, he added, were believed to be non-life-threatening, but nonetheless serious.

‘”The active situation has been resolved,’ his department said in a statement to X late Friday following the bloody ordeal. ‘There is no threat to the public.’

An investigation into the incident remains underway, and people with any information are being urged to come forward.

The shooter’s motive, meanwhile, is still being investigated.