Drug Lead in West Virginia Shootings

Police investigating the murders of three people shot dead outside convenience shops in West Virginia last week are pursuing a possible drugs connection, officials said last night.

House-to-house inquiries in the rural community of Campbells Creek has allowed the police to narrow hundreds of tip-offs to 10 serious lines of inquiry, investigators said.

Several people suggested a link to the increasing sale and use of drugs in the area, but the police would not comment further on whether the victims were thought to be linked to drugs or to the sniper.

The three people were killed late at night in the Charleston area, 10 miles east of Campbells Creek, stirring memories of the sniper attacks which terrorised the Virginia, Maryland and Washington DC area last year, killing 13 people.

All three of the latest victims - two men and a woman - were shot from distances of 27 metres to 55 metres and killed with a single shot to the neck or head.

One was at a petrol pump, another was using a payphone, and the third was buying milk.

"We would be remiss in not mentioning the possible drug connection," the Kanawha county chief deputy sheriff, Phil Morris, said.

But, he added, "We are not saying there isn't a random shooter. We are not saying [residents] can stop looking over their shoulder."

The police are searching for a heavy-set white man who was seen driving a dark pick-up truck which has been spotted at two of the crime scenes.