Jury Seeks Death for Slasher
Mass Shooting in South Alabama; At Least 10 Dead, Including Gunman
Tuesday, March 10, 2009 at 8:30 pm
MSNBC coverage of the shooting spree
UPDATE 2
The Associated Press reports that the gunman was a resident of Kinston, Alabama named Michael McLendon. The majority of his victims were his own relatives, including his mother and grandparents. Others victims were strangers, chosen at random.
McLendon may have been a former employee of Reliable Metal Products, the facility where he committed suicide at the end of his murderous spree.
UPDATE
The following comes from The Southeast Sun:
A 30-year-old man apparently set fire to his mother's home in Coffee County before traveling to Samson and Geneva on a shooting spree that left at least 10 people dead. Coffee County Sheriff's Department deputies, District Attorney Gary McAliley and Enterprise firefighters are on the scene at the woman's home near Kinston, where her burned body has been discovered. Officials have not confirmed if she was alone in the house. They said witnesses saw the gunman, whose name has not been released, leaving the home earlier today before he drove to Samson...
Original Post
The spree began in Geneva County, Alabama, with gunshots inside a house in the town of Samson, just off Highway 52. Local reports indicate that the gunman killed 5 people in that house, 4 adults and a child. They were said to be his relatives. Two more were found dead at two other residences in the area. Then the gunman headed into downtown Samson. He shot a man walking down the sidewalk there, killing him. He entered the Big/Little Store where he killed one person. A local report indicated that the victim was a woman. She was found face-up behind the counter inside the store.
Law enforcement swarmed the area as the reports came in. Meanwhile, the killer traveled a quarter mile or so up the highway to a True Value Hardware Store, where he again opened fire, shooting an assault rifle out the window of his vehicle. The killer then headed towards the town of Geneva, allegedly shooting at vehicles along the way.
An investigator named Ricky Morgan spotted the shooter near a Wal-Mart, still firing away. Morgan barrelled into the maniac with his own vehicle and was shot at for his trouble Then Geneva Police Chief Frankie Lindsey confronted the shooter, who fired at Lindsey, striking him in the shoulder. Lindsey was not seriously injured.
The final showdown with the still-unnamed gunman came in the parking lot of Reliable Metal Products on Alabama Highway 27. There he exchanged gunfire with a Geneva County Sheriff's Deputy and a local conservation officer. The killer managed to flee to the building, where he shot himself.
After the killer took his own life and the investigation began, some reports suggested that the number of dead may rise.
According to local media, the FBI, Alabama Bureau of Investigation and multiple county sheriff's departments are investigating.
This is a developing story. Updates and revisions will follow.
[The Southeast Sun, NBC15Online.com, DothanEagle.com. Also: an online guest book has been created for the victims of the spree.]
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Map of approximate locations where shots were fired. |
Tags: Alabama, Frankie Lindsey, Geneva Alabama, Kinston, mass shooting, Michael McLendon, Reliable Metal Products, Ricky Morgan
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