SAMSON, Ala. (AP) - Ten people were killed by a gunman in some four different locations at two albama counties,he burned his mothers home,killed his family members & shooted at strangers on his way.At last he shot himself.
Police were investigating shootings in at least four different
locations in three neighboring communities, all of which were
believed to be the work of a single gunman named Michael McLendon.
Investigators declined to comment on a motive for the shootings, in
which at least four other people were injured, including a child.
The afternoon of bloodshed began when McLendon burned down the
house in Kinston where he lived with his mother, Lisa McLendon,
according to Coffee County Coroner Robert Preachers. Officials
located Lisa McLendon's body inside the house, but they had not
been able to get inside the still-burning house to determine a
cause of death or whether she was a 10th victim of her son's
killing spree.
He then headed about 12 miles southeast to Samson, in Geneva
County, where he shot and killed five people - four adults and a
child - at a home. He killed one person each in two other homes.
The identities of all the victims were unknown, but Preachers
said they included other members of the shooter's family.
"He started in his mother's house," Preachers said. "Then he
went to Samson and he killed his granny and granddaddy and aunt and
uncle. He cleaned his family out."
"We don't know what triggered it," Preachers added.
McLendon also shot at a state trooper's car, striking the
vehicle seven times and wounding the trooper with broken glass.
He then killed someone at a Samson supply store, and another
person at a service station.
Samson contractor Greg McCullough said he was pumping gas at the
station when McLendon opened fire, killing a woman coming out of
the service station and wounding McCullough in the shoulder and arm
with bullet fragments that struck his truck and the pump.
"I first thought it was somebody playing," he said. He said
the gunman roared into the parking lot and slammed on his brakes.
Then he saw the rifle.
He said the gunman fired and the rifle appeared to jam, then he
"went back to firing." Then he drove off.
McCullough, a father of two, said he tried to help the woman who
was shot and yelled for someone to call an ambulance.
"I'm just in awe that something like this could take place.
That someone could do such a thing. It's just shocking,"
McCullough told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.
Police pursued McLendon to Reliable Metal Products just north of
Geneva, about a dozen miles southeast of Samson, where he fired an
estimated 30 rounds from a semiautomatic weapon, the Alabama safety
department said. One of the bullets hit Geneva Police Chief Frankie
Lindsey, who was saved by his bullet proof vest.
McLendon then went inside the plant and shot himself, according
to the safety department's statement.
Reliable Metal Products makes grills and vents for heating and
AC systems, mainly for hotels. A person who answered the phone at
the plant said no one could talk about the shooting.
State Rep. Warren Beck, a Republican whose district includes
Geneva, said the gunman had worked at Reliable Metal.
"My secretary heard gunfire everywhere," he said. "This is
one of the most tragic events ever in Geneva County."
State Sen. Harri Anne Smith, R-Slocomb, said some of those
killed in Samson were sitting outside.
"He was just driving down the street shooting at people sitting
on their porches," she said. "A family was just sitting on the
porch and they were shot."
Smith and Beck were at the Statehouse when state troopers came
to get them and took them to Geneva County. Smith said the
governor's office is sending resources and state troopers are
setting up a command post.
A white single-story house where the five people were killed in
Samson was cordoned off by police.
Police had hung white sheets to the entranceway to shield the
scene where authorities said a black hearse that pulled away late
Tuesday was transporting victims' bodies.
Samson Mayor Clay King said he knew the gunman.
"What I'm focusing on is people here in the town, making sure
they feel comfortable," said King, who added the town opened a
crisis center at the First Baptist Church with counselors
available.
King said he's the "most shocked person in the world" about
the shooting.
"I've lived here 44 years and never, never dreamed of this
happening," he said.
John Rainey, an administrator at Wiregrass Medical Center, in
Geneva, said a child was brought in with injuries then flown to
another hospital. The staff had geared up to try to help other
survivors, but their hopes were dashed when reports of the deaths
came in.
"We set up for the worst there for a couple of hours and
unfortunately we were getting the same bad reports as everyone else
- most people were untreatable," said Rainey "It's something
you'd expect in Atlanta or your bigger cities but in a little town
it puts a lot of people in stress. Our nursing staff broke down in
tears hearing what was going on and realizing they weren't going to
be able to help them."
The towns of Geneva and Samson are near the Florida border in
southeast Alabama. Geneva's population is about 4,400 and Samson,
2,000.
In the center of Samson, authorities in sheriff's cars and
trucks with blue lights flashing blocked off part of East Main
Street, where some of the shooting occurred.
At the hardware store, yellow tape was strung across the front
of the store where at least five bullet holes punctured the glass
windows to the store, with its wheelbarrows and Adirondack lawn
chairs on display. An orange-and-black sign to the store reading
"Closed" lay on the ground outside the store atop the glass
shards.
David Bradley, 51, the owner of the hardware store, said he was
inside behind the counter when the shooter opened fire outside his
store. At the time, there were five customers inside, plus
Bradley's 27-year-old son, Justin.
"No one was injured inside the store," David Bradley said,
adding he didn't even get a glimpse at the suspect. "It happened
so quick."
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