GAFFNEY, S.C. -- Police are continuing their investigation into Patrick Tracy Burris, the man they say was responsible for shooting five people to death in a killing spree that terrorized residents in and around Gaffney.

Now police are focusing on where Burris, 41, was and what he did since getting out of prison April 29. Officers said they will also try to determine why Burris targeted the five victims in Gaffney and if he is responsible for any unsolved slayings in other states.

They said they believe Burris had been living as a vagabond in Gaston County at least since June, when he left a mobile home in Vale.

Investigators said in addition to ballistics connecting Burris’ gun to the Gaffney slayings, they also found an item belonging to a slain peach farmer in the champagne-colored Ford Explorer he was driving.

But police said they do not believe robbery was a motive in the shooting spree because they couldn’t find anything taken from the other victims. They said the investigation could go on for several more weeks.

Burris was shot and killed by police in Gastonia, N.C., who were responding to a suspected burglary call. Officers said they opened fire when Burris pulled a gun and shot an officer in the leg after they tried to serve a warrant on him for being a habitual felon early Monday. Gaffney Police Chief Rick Turner said it appeared that Burris had been in Gaston County, hopping from place to place ever since the last shootings in Gaffney on July 2.

Sharon Stamey, 31, and her brother were with Burris when he was killed in the shootout with police. Stamey said she and her brother were spending time with Burris over the last several days, even while the massive manhunt was going on.

Eyewitness News obtained a statement Tuesday night from the family Patrick Burris.

His immediate family told WSPA-TV in Spartanburg "We have not seen Patrick in many years...if the accusations about him are true, he is not the same person we used to know."

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• VIDEO: Burris Had N.C. Criminal Record Spanning Two Decades
• VIDEO: Man Recalls Suspected Serial Killer's Engagement To His Mother
• VIDEO: News Conference on Shooting Death of Serial Killer Part 1
• VIDEO: South Carolina Press Conference on Patrick Burris Part 2

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The Stameys met Burris two weeks ago at a hotel and didn't know about his killing spree, police said Tuesday.

Burris was a career criminal, authorities said. Police described the siblings, Sharon and Mark Stamey, 35, as transients who had a drug and criminal past.

"They were not actively living there," Ramey said. "There's no power. Sometimes they squat there -- sneak in and stay at night."

The Stameys were not charged after the shooting in Gastonia.

Sharon Stamey was in court on a drug charge Tuesday. She told Eyewitness News that Burris was a “nice guy” who liked to party, and she was never afraid of him. She said they were introduced by a mutual friend.

She said she couldn’t imagine he was a serial killer until police questioned her.

“I never felt any kind of a threat from him whatsoever,” she said.

She said she was in another room asleep when the confrontation with police happened.

“I heard three shots. It was really scary,” she said.

Former neighbors of Burris also said they had no idea he was the suspect.

"It's shocking--I have four little children," Samantha Cook told Eyewitness News.

She found out Monday night that Burris was the alleged serial killer in Gaffney after she saw a report on television.

Cook said Burris kept to himself most of the time in the mobile home he rented on Chambers Lane in Vale in western Lincoln County.

Burris's landlord said he had moved in May 1, but he did not mention that he had just been released from prison several days earlier. The landlord, who did not want to be named, told Eyewitness News that Burris was living in the mobile home with a woman who may have been his girlfriend, but they moved out in late June after the power company cut off electricity to the house.

SLED: Suspect Had ‘Scary’ Criminal Past

Investigators said they had no idea why Burris went on a killing spree.

"He was unpredictable. He was scary. He was weird," said Neil Dolan, deputy director of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.

Burris had a long rap sheet filled with convictions for robbery, larceny, forgery and breaking and entering in states across the Southeast, including Florida, Virginia, West Virginia and Maryland. He had served four terms in North Carolina prisons, and he spent more than half of the last two decades behind bars.

Records show Burris was first sentenced to prison in 1991 on robbery and other charges. He returned to prison in 1994 and again in 2000 before he was sentenced to 10 years and one month as an habitual felon in 2001. Burris served 7 years and 7 months of that sentence before he was released in April from the prison unit in Lincolnton.

A Department of Corrections spokesman confirmed that Burris was on probation after his release, and that his probation officer had cited him for several violations, including one after he was arrested on June 12 for driving with a revoked license. That probation officer did not get a chance to serve that warrant before Burris allegedly went on his killing spree.

"Look at this," SLED Chief Reggie Lloyd said, waving a stapled copy of Burris' criminal record. "This is like 25 pages. At some point the criminal justice system is going to need to explain why this suspect was out on the street."

His death relieved many area residents who have been armed and on edge since the killing spree began June 27.

Gaffney farmer Sam Howell, 61, was among dozens of people from Cherokee County at the news conference where authorities identified Burris.

"My prayers were answered. He got what he deserved," Howell said. "He scared the hell out of everyone. I guess we can feel better but we've lost some of our innocence."

People who normally kept their doors open and welcomed strangers stopped trusting their own neighbors.

Gina Brown said she spent many sleepless nights worried about her family's safety. She called the couple's four adult children, who still live in the area, every night to tell them she loved them and make sure they were safe.

"They thought I was crazy, but they understood," she said.

The mystery ended in Gastonia early Monday after Mike and Terri Valentine called police to report a suspicious sport utility vehicle in their neighborhood.

The Valentines were on alert because the Gaffney serial killer was just a short drive away.

They watched two people who sometimes visit the neighboring home get out of the vehicle, followed by a third man who matched the description of the killer: tall, heavyset, unshaven and wearing a baseball cap. The man appeared to be very drunk, Mike Valentine said.

When officers arrived and went inside, Terri Valentine said she heard someone yell "put it down" and heard a gunshot.

Then "bam, bam, bam, bam. Next thing I know, all of Gaston County was here," she said.

The Gaffney killings began when peach farmer Kline Cash, 63, was killed June 27. Four days later, 83-year-old Hazel Linder and her daughter, 50-year-old Gena Linder Parker, were found bound and shot in the older woman's home. The next day, Stephen Tyler and his 15-year-old daughter Abby were found shot in their family's furniture store.