Spring Break
DA says Ala. shooter had revenge list of employers
Associated Press
Issue date: 3/12/09 Section: News
SAMSON, Ala. (AP) - A gunman who killed 10 people in the worst mass shooting in Alabama history had a list of employers "who had done him wrong," including the nearby sausage plant he quit days before the spree and the metal factory where he shot himself, authorities said Wednesday.
Investigators trying to figure out why Michael McLendon, 28, killed relatives and others Tuesday afternoon found the list in his home, Coffee County District Attorney Gary McAliley said.
"We found a list of people he worked with, people who had done him wrong," said McAliley in a brief interview outside the charred house where the rampage begain.
The killings devastated rural communities in two counties near the Florida border. While the list was one of several perplexing clues that emerged Wednesday about McLendon's life, authorities couldn't say what set him off.
And the people who might be able to explain - his mother, his grandmother, his uncle and two cousins - were among the victims. A witness said the four had no time to react when McLendon wordlessly and expressionlessly pulled his car up to a house where they were sitting and opened fire.
The rampage started around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, and took only about an hour from start to finish. In that time, McLendon sprayed more than 200 rounds, authorities said.
First, McLendon set his mother's house on fire and killed her, then drove 12 miles and opened fire on his uncle's front porch, killing five more people and his grandmother, who lived next door, authorities said. Then, he drove through town and fired seemingly at random, killing three more people. With police in pursuit, he ended up at the metals plant where he once worked, and shot himself after engaging in a shootout with law enforcement officers.
"He cleaned his family out," Coffee County Coroner Robert Preachers said.
McLendon was briefly employed by the police department in Samson in 2003 and spent about a week and a half at the police academy, dropping out before he received firearms training, said Col. Chris Murphy, director of the Alabama Department of Public Safety. More recently, he worked nearly two years at food manufacturer and distributor Kelley Foods in Elba, about 25 miles north of where he shot most of his victims.
Investigators trying to figure out why Michael McLendon, 28, killed relatives and others Tuesday afternoon found the list in his home, Coffee County District Attorney Gary McAliley said.
"We found a list of people he worked with, people who had done him wrong," said McAliley in a brief interview outside the charred house where the rampage begain.
The killings devastated rural communities in two counties near the Florida border. While the list was one of several perplexing clues that emerged Wednesday about McLendon's life, authorities couldn't say what set him off.
And the people who might be able to explain - his mother, his grandmother, his uncle and two cousins - were among the victims. A witness said the four had no time to react when McLendon wordlessly and expressionlessly pulled his car up to a house where they were sitting and opened fire.
The rampage started around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, and took only about an hour from start to finish. In that time, McLendon sprayed more than 200 rounds, authorities said.
First, McLendon set his mother's house on fire and killed her, then drove 12 miles and opened fire on his uncle's front porch, killing five more people and his grandmother, who lived next door, authorities said. Then, he drove through town and fired seemingly at random, killing three more people. With police in pursuit, he ended up at the metals plant where he once worked, and shot himself after engaging in a shootout with law enforcement officers.
"He cleaned his family out," Coffee County Coroner Robert Preachers said.
McLendon was briefly employed by the police department in Samson in 2003 and spent about a week and a half at the police academy, dropping out before he received firearms training, said Col. Chris Murphy, director of the Alabama Department of Public Safety. More recently, he worked nearly two years at food manufacturer and distributor Kelley Foods in Elba, about 25 miles north of where he shot most of his victims.
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