Thursday, February 7, 2008

KIRKWOOD, MO: SHOOTER KILLS MAYOR, 2 COPS, 2 OTHERS


AP
Police surround the Kirkwood, Mo., City Hall after a gunman burst into a city council meeting and killed 5 people including the mayor and two cops, officials say.

Gunman Kills Five at City Council Meeting, Shot Dead by Police</span>
Thursday, February 07, 2008
FoxNews

KIRKWOOD, Mo. — Two police officers were among five people shot and killed Thursday night by a gunman who opened fire at a city council meeting in this St. Louis suburb, police said.

A total of seven people were shot, including the mayor and several city officials, before police shot and killed the gunman, though it is unclear which officials are among the dead.

The gunman was identified as Charles Lee "Cookie" Thornton a St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter who was attending the meeting.

MyFOXStLouis, citing a local newspaper, reports that Thornton had a history of disruptive activity at council meetings. Thornton, a local contractor and a black man, repeatedly accused the city of racism and discrimination in citing him for unlicensed work, and he even sued the city for civil rights violations but recently lost the suit, the TV station reported.

Thornton first shot a police officer outside the city council chambers before walking inside and opening fire, police said in a brief news conference.

The Post-Dispatch reporter said the 7 p.m. meeting had just started when the shooter rushed into the council chambers yelling and began opening fire with at least one weapon. He started yelling "shoot the mayor" while walking around and firing, hitting a police officer first, the reporter said.

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2 comments:

  1. The Merry WidowFebruary 8, 2008 at 5:19 PM

    A blogger friend of mine lives less than a mile from the shooting and knew both the shooter and one of the officers!
    They said that the shooter was a nice hard working man who was constantly harrased and ticketed for doing 'odd jobs' without a contractors liscense. Sounds to me like some of the officials were a little too officious, and snobby.
    But losing your perspective and going on a shooting spree solves nothing!

    tmw

    ReplyDelete
  2. CHOMPFebruary 10, 2008 at 3:47 PM

    Yes, this was a very sad story. It certainly could have had a better outcome.

    ReplyDelete