Crete man shot 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 Friday just after 4:30 p.m. in a neighborhood on the northeast side of town.

Three of the victims were adults and four were children, according to authorities.

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

The seventh victim realized he was injured later, according to Col. John Bolduc, superintendent of the state patrol.

Bolduc said three victims are still 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 range from age 22 to 43, while the children range from age 3 to 10.

Bolduc said all the wounds suffered by the victims are consistent with shotgun wounds.

When officers were headed to the scene, they said gunshots could still be heard in the neighborhood.

A gunshot went off in the house across the street when law enforcement arrived on the scene, according to officials.

Bolduc said first responders carried six victims to the rear of the house to be treated.

Officers evacuated families from houses on both sides of the street to ensure their safety.

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

The suspected was identified as Billy Booth, 74.

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

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

Officials said there were about 15 people at the house being shot at.

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

Crete Police Chief Gary Young said there has been prior history between the suspect and the victims.

Since 2021, there have been several complaints from Booth about the victims’ driving behavior and improper parking.

Young said that Booth has ‘flipped off’ the victims multiple times.

Booth has 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 a motive has yet to be determined.

Bolduc said investigators have gathered phones and computers from Booth’s home to help in the investigation to find a motive.

Booth had a previous arrest in Lancaster County in 1994 for a domestic issue but wasn’t convicted.

Law enforcement said the neighborhood in Crete has been opened back up and the scene is clear.