Teenage girl becomes 5th victim of suspected serial killer in South Carolina

A teenage girl shot while helping her father in their family's small furniture and appliance store died on Saturday, becoming the fifth victim of a suspected serial killer terrorising a small South Carolina community, authorities said.

Abby Tyler, age 15, died about 11:15 a.m. (1515GMT) at a Spartanburg, South Carolina hospital after fighting for her life for two days, a Cherokee County Coroner said.

Tyler was wounded and her father was killed on Thursday as they worked to close the Tyler Home Centre near downtown Gaffney.

County Sheriff Bill Blanton said investigators believe the killings are linked and the search is on for a suspected male serial killer.

An 83-year-old mother and her daughter were shot dead on Wednesday, and a 63-year-old peach farmer was found dead at his home a week ago.

Blanton said all the victims were shot, but he would not say how the deaths were linked.

The shootings all occurred within about 10 miles (16 kilometres) of each other in Cherokee County, a rural community of 54-thousand people set amid peach orchards and farms some 50 miles (80 kilometres) west of Charlotte, North Carolina.

Some residents alarmed by the apparent killing spree cancelled Independence Day holiday plans and took up arms for protection.

The sheriff has warned door-to-door salesmen to stop knocking and anyone who breaks down on the county's rural roads to wait, instead of walking to a house for help because he worries "people are going to start shooting at shadows."

Dozens of local, state and federal investigators were assigned to the case when the killings were linked.

But a day later, the killer struck again, less than a half-mile from the sheriff's office serving as the headquarters for the investigation, killing 48-year-old Stephen Tyler and his daughter.

Investigators have released a sketch of the suspect, saying he is in his 40s, with salt and pepper hair, he is about 6ft.2in tall, and weighs roughly 200 pounds. They think he is driving a silver 1991-1994 Ford Explorer.