Prov. 27:1
"Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not wha t a day may bring forth."
Gunman Kills 10 in Alabama, Then Takes His Life
Law enforcement officials at one of the crime scenes of a shooting rampage in Samson, Ala.
A gunman shot and killed at least 10 people, including several members of his family, on Tuesday afternoon in what officials said was the worst shooting in Alabama.
Family members of victims outside a home in Samson.
The fatal shootings occurred in the Samson-Geneva area.
In the wake of Tuesday’s rampage, bullet holes were left in a storefront window.
The gunman led the police on a chase through Geneva County in southern Alabama, firing at officers before fatally shooting himself at a business where he was once employed, law enforcement officials said.
Witnesses of the shootings and their aftermath described a man with multiple weapons who engaged in heavy gunfire, leaving behind blood-soaked porches and bodies.
“It is truly one of the most horrific things that anyone in law enforcement can remember in Alabama,” said Col. J. Christopher Murphy, the director of the state’s Public Safety Department. “We’re still getting victims coming in.”
The Associated Press quoted Robert Preachers, the coroner of Coffee County, just north of Geneva County, as identifying the gunman as Michael McLendon. Mr. Preachers said the man burned down the house of his mother, Lisa McLendon, in Kinston. Officials found the woman’s body inside the house, The AP said.
“He started in his mother’s house,” Mr. Preachers said. “Then he went to Samson and he killed his granny and granddaddy and aunt and uncle. He cleaned his family out.”
In Samson, four adults and a child were found shot to death at one residence and two people were found dead at two other homes, all shot on their porches, the authorities said.
Another person was found dead at a business, Samson Pipe and Supply, and still another at a service station.
A neighbor who would not give her name for publication said the gunman had also killed his girlfriend.
“I heard pop, pop, pop, pop, and my daughter called me,” the woman said. “I’m sickly and old and she said, “Mother, lock your doors and stay inside.’ She said there’s a man on a rampage shooting.”
Another victim was described by a neighbor, Koren Garcia, as a 23-year-old man who had two children and one on the way.
He was walking down the street and stopped to talk to a neighbor as the gunman drove past, she said.
The wife and baby of a sheriff’s deputy were also among the dead, said Sheriff Greg Ward of Geneva County. The mother and child were visiting neighbors when they were shot, he said.
“I don’t know how we’re going to get through this,” Ms. Garcia said. “I have no idea. Nothing like this has ever happened. Everyone is crying.”
Chased by the police, the gunman drove 12 miles to Geneva on Highway 52, then turned onto Highway 27.
The Geneva County coroner, Max Motley, told the Dothan Eagle that he had been called to the Big Little Store on West Main Street in Samson, where he found the body of a woman between the gas pump and the front door. She was found face up with at least one fatal gunshot wound.
Along the way, the gunman’s car was rammed by a police car, and the gunman fired two shots, narrowly missing the officer driving, said Mayor Wynnton Melton of Geneva, whose police officers were involved in the chase.
The police tried to stop the gunman near a Wal-Mart store, where he shot Chief Frankie Lindsey of the Geneva Police Department, grazing his shoulder. The chief’s bulletproof vest protected him, officials said.
When the gunman drove past a nearby grocery store, Sheriff Ward fired at him, officials said.
The gunman continued on Highway 27 to Reliable Products, a metal fabricator, outside Geneva, where he was once employed, Sheriff Ward said.
The sheriff said he did not know how recently the gunman had worked there. In the parking lot, the gunman fired about 30 rounds, officials said, then entered the building, where he fatally shot himself, the police said.
Trymaine Lee and Dana Beyerle contributed reporting.
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