A gunman who took a college class hostage yesterday with a plan to shoot someone and then himself was shot dead by police after he wounded two of the hostages.
Neither of the hostages suffered life-threatening injuries in the violent conclusion to the nine-hour standoff at Dyersburg Community College in western Tennessee. Upon hearing the gunshots, police broke into the classroom and killed Harold Kilpatrick, Jr. (26).
Kilpatrick, who had no connection to the school, had been due to appear in court in Memphis, 75 miles southwest of Dyersburg, for an assault on his girlfriend.
Police said he had a history of violence and had written a note saying he planned to shoot someone and then himself.
Several of the roughly dozen student hostages told police during the standoff that the gunman appeared to be suicidal. Kilpatrick had allowed three hostages out of the mathematics class, but had been refusing to negotiate with police or talk to his sister, with whom he had been staying in Dyersburg.
"My people have been outside the door of the classroom," Dyersburg Police Chief Bobby Williamson said immediately after the gunfire. "Negotiations started and then they broke down and (he) began to fire. My people went in and took him down. The situation is over."
Police earlier dismissed Kilpatrick's assertion that he was a member of al-Qaeda.