Crete man kills seven people in attack on neighbors, authorities say

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – The Nebraska State Patrol said Saturday that seven people were injured in a mass shooting in Crete.

The shooting occurred shortly after 4:30 p.m. Friday in a northeast neighborhood of the city.

According to authorities, three of the victims were adults and four were children.

Six of the victims were taken by ambulance to the Crete Medical Center.

The seventh victim realized he had been injured later, according to Col. John Bolduc, state patrol superintendent.

Bolduc said three victims remain in the hospital, two at Children's Hospital in Omaha and one in Lincoln.

The patrol did not release the names or exact ages of the victims, but the adults were between 22 and 43 years old, while the children were between 3 and 10 years old.

Bolduc said all of the victims' injuries are consistent with gunshot wounds.

When police arrived at the scene, they said gunshots could still be heard in the area.

A shot was fired into the house across the street when law enforcement arrived on the scene, authorities said.

Bolduc said first responders transported six victims to the back of the home for treatment.

Police evacuated families from homes on both sides of the street to ensure their safety.

At 6:40 p.m., the NSP SWAT team broke down the front door of the home across the street, where they found the suspect dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The suspect was identified as 74-year-old Billy Booth.

Bolduc said two firearms were found in the home, but a shotgun was the only one used.

According to Bolduc, Booth fired all the shots from inside his home, 50 feet across the street, at the victims.

Authorities said there were about 15 people in the house who were shot.

Bolduc said at least one of the victims was inside the home when they were struck.

Crete Police Chief Gary Young said there was a history between the suspect and the victims.

Since 2021, Booth has filed several complaints regarding the victims' driving behavior and improper parking.

Young said Booth “freaked out” the victims on several occasions.

Booth previously told the victims, who are of Hispanic descent, to “speak English” and “go back where you came from,” according to Young.

There was no verbal contact between Booth and the victims before the shots were fired, Young said.

Young said the shooting “could be” racially motivated, but the motive remains to be determined.

Bolduc said investigators gathered phones and computers from Booth's home to help with the investigation and find a motive.

Booth was previously arrested in Lancaster County in 1994 for a domestic disturbance, but was not convicted.

Law enforcement said the Crete neighborhood had been reopened and the scene was clear.