2 Kirkland, MO Police Officers and Mayor shot by gunman earlier this evening.

My prayers to all the victims. Sounds as if several city counsel members were shot as well.


(reported on CNBC)

On edit, five dead.

Mayor critical.




In Los Angeles, man kills three relatives and a SWAT officer before being gunned down.





In Florida, one neighbor kills another over the height of his lawn.





Sugar factory in Georgia explodes. 40 injured, many with severs burns over large parts of their bodies. Six missing.




I get the feeling the Atlantis astronaughts might decline to return.

Another tragedy.

An American man who had repeatedly refused to pay his parking fines shot dead five people last night after bursting into a council meeting in Missouri brandishing two handguns, including a .357 magnum.

Officials said the gunman - who was shouting 'shoot the mayor' as he blasted his way across the chamber - shot dead two policemen and three council employees attending a suburban mayoral meeting in Kirkwood, St. Louis, before being shot dead by police.

The names of the victims have not been officially confirmed, but it was thought that Mike Swoboda, the mayor, survived the attack despite suffering a gunshot wound.

Marty Harris, a local journalist at the Webster-Kirkwood Times, was one of around 30 people at the City Hall meeting when the rampage began at about 7pm local time. He recognised the gunman as Charles Lee “Cookie” Thornton, an aggrieved resident with a history of disputes with the local government.

more: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article3333114.ece



He really looked like a nice person.

story here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080208/ap_on_re_us/missouri_shooting

KIRKWOOD, Mo. - A gunman carrying a grudge against City Hall left a suicide note on his bed warning "the truth will come out in the end," before he went on a deadly shooting spree at a council meeting, his brother told The Associated Press on Friday.
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Arthur Thornton, 42, said in an interview at the family's home he knew when he read the one-line note that Charles Lee "Cookie" Thornton was the man who stormed the meeting Thursday night and killed five people before police shot him dead.

"I want to say for my family that I'm am truly, truly sorry," Arthur Thornton said, breaking into tears. "I'm so sorry. This didn't have to happen."

like a Molotov cocktail or homemade pipe bomb, which both have easy instructions on the internet, or he could have rammed his car into the building, or any number of other scenarios. This man was *determined* to take himself out, and take someone with him.

Are all the facts in yet? Did *he* own the gun, or did he "borrow" (steal) it from a family member or friend?

It's horrible what he did in any case, but why can't these psychos that are determined to die just take themselves out and leave others alone?

:hi: