Male suspect in custody for Tennessee and Alabama slayings

Lincoln County Tennessee Sherriff Murray Blackwelder speaks with the media about the slayings (AP Photo / The Huntsville Times, Bob Gathany)

Jacob Lee Shaffer was taken into custody and is being questioned by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) as a suspect for the six slayings in Tennessee and Alabama.

Though he is reported to have confessed to the homicides, Shaffer, who is from Fayetteville, TN, has not yet been charged.

North Alabama news station WAFF reported that the "Lincoln County, TN authorities confirmed that five people were found shot to death on South Lincoln Road on Saturday morning. They also confirmed that a sixth person related to the Lincoln County deaths was also found dead at a Huntsville business."

Kristin Helm of the TBI told CNN that "Five people, some of whom were related, were found dead in two nearby homes in Fayetteville, Tennessee." Helm said that "Investigators think the killings occurred either Friday night or early Saturday."

According to Lincoln County Sheriff Murray Blackwelder, a sixth person was found dead in Huntsville, about 30 miles from Fayetteville.