Authorities say seven people were shot to death and one was wounded in attacks in a small southeastern Missouri town, and the suspected gunman was found dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Missouri State Highway Patrol Sgt. Jeff Kinder said Friday morning he could not release any information on the motive or whether the 36-year-old gunman and the victims were connected.

Kinder said authorities found the body of an older woman who died of natural causes and said "we're not calling her a victim at this time."

The names of the victims will not be released until relatives are notified.

The highway patrol is assisting Texas County Sheriff's Department in the investigation.

The victims' bodies were found in four different homes in Tyrone, in Texas County, about 40 miles north of the Arkansas border.

The 36-year-old suspect from Tyrone was later found in a vehicle in Shannon County dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, patrol spokesman Sgt. Jeff Kinder said.

The Texas County Sheriff's office received a call about 10:15 p.m. Thursday from a young woman who said she had fled to a neighbor's home after hearing gunshots in her house, Kinder said. When officers arrived, they found two people dead in that home.

Officers later found five more victims and one injured person in three additional homes.

Texas County coroner Tom Whittaker said investigators were still working at the scenes Friday morning.

"To my recollection, we've never had anything like this," Whittaker said.