Suspects in deadly 3-state shooting rampage arrested in South Dakota

A nationwide manhunt for a man and a woman suspected in a string of shootings in Ohio, West Virginia and Indiana that left two people dead and three wounded ended with their arrests Monday morning in South Dakota, authorities said.

Timothy Sargent, 42, of Akron, Ohio, was taken into custody by state troopers in Sioux Falls, according to the Northern Ohio Fugitive Task Force. Also arrested was Savannah Emich, 20, who had allegedly been on the run with Sargent and is a suspect in one of the shootings that left two people wounded near a state park in Indiana, officials said.

“The task force here in Ohio worked around the clock with its local partners and law enforcement across the county to locate and apprehend this pair of violent individuals," U.S. Marshal Pete Elliott said in a statement.

The three-state shooting rampage began on Aug. 17, when Sargent allegedly shot and wounded a 29-year-old man on a section of the Towpath Trail in Akron, police said. The victim, who was living at a homeless campsite on the trail and was acquainted with Sargent, was shot multiple times and helped police identify Sargent as the suspected shooter, according to Akron police.

The following day, Sargent is suspected of fatally shooting his girlfriend, Rebecca Tomlinson, 22, whose body was discovered near a set of railroad tracks in Akron, according to police.

Sargent also is suspected in the slaying of a 62-year-old man who was shot on the morning of Aug. 19 while driving a car on a highway in Milton, West Virginia, according to authorities.

Hours after the West Virginia shooting, police believe Sargent and Emich, also of Ohio, drove to Indiana. On the night of Aug. 19, police believe Sargent and Emich opened fire on an SUV occupied by a family of three near the entrance to O’Bannon Woods State Park in Corydon, Indiana.

The driver of the SUV and his wife were wounded and the vehicle crashed into a tree, according to Indiana State Police. A 16-year-old girl, sitting in the backseat was not harmed, police said.

A motive for the shooting rampage is under investigation.

Sargent and Emich were being held in South Dakota pending extradition back to Ohio, authorities said.