A gunman killed at least eleven people on a terrifying rampage in the US state of Alabama yesterday, burning down his mother's home, killing his mother and members of his own family on their porch and shooting apparent strangers as he drove by, authorities said. He then fatally 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.
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 his 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.
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.
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.
AP