UPDATE: More Info On Female Shooter (LaTina Williams) In LA..

Still Many Questions Surround Deadly Shooting

(victim, Karsheika Graves)
(victim, Taneisha Butler)
(students mourn, below)
(scene of shooting-LA Tech College)

(Baton Rouge, LA - WAFB) Baton Rouge police say a young woman killed two female students in a classroom at a vo-tech college Friday, then killed herself. Police identified the victims as Karsheika Graves, age 21, and Tanieshia-Deanna Butler, age 26. Investigators identified the shooter as Latina Williams, age 23. Sergeant Don Kelly with Baton Rouge police says all three were students at the Louisiana Technical College campus. The shooter's family lives in Mississippi. Baton Rouge police visited with them Friday night, trying to figure out what might have led Latina Williams to open fire. Funeral arrangements for the victims are still pending.

9NEWS spoke with the family of Karsheika Graves. The tight-knit group believes Karsheika Graves will always be with them. "She was a beautiful person. Humble, kind, patient, never said an ill word about anyone," says Karlyn Leblanc, Karsheika's aunt. Her family is baffled. They have no idea why someone would shoot and kill the artistic mother of two. Graves was a painter, and on her way to becoming a nurse. Family members say in December, she would have graduated from Louisiana Technical College. "She had two babies but she wasn't going to let that stop her. And that's what I admired about her," Leblanc says. She also says coroners tell her Graves' body was found with a pencil in her hand, a strong indication of the kind of dedicated student she was. Graves was the mother of a one-year-old and a five-month-old baby. Funeral arrangements for the victims are still pending.

The family of Tanieshia Butler was kind enough to invite 9NEWS to their home to share Tanieshia's life. Butler was shot to death Friday morning while just simply sitting in a nursing class. "I am in disbelief. Until I actually see her face, I just don't believe. Right now, I don't believe it," Ernest Butler says. Tanieshia's husband is having a hard time staying strong, but he says he has to. "Right now, I am trying to pull it together for the kids, trying to get them through this." The couple's three children are 4, 9, and 12 years old. Tanieshia worked hard to put herself through school so that she could give her children a better life. Now, her mother wants to know how she's supposed to encourage Tanieshia's children to go to school. "You don't want to live out your kids, you are supposed to be able to go to school. It's supposed to be a safe place to go," says Bobbie Landry. Tanieshia's mother says she doesn't why the shooter chose her daughter, but she does have a message for the family. "Out of your hands once they grow up. I pray for you. I'm sorry for your loss." This family hopes whatever you take away from this that you learn from their lesson. "We've got little ones. You are preaching to them, teaching them to go to school and now, how are we supposed to tell them this, if they fear their lives how can you send them." Friday morning, Tanieshia's sister, Tont, was also at the college. She was across the hall, in another classroom. She heard the shots fired. Students and faculty at the school were kept on lockdown for nearly four hours as police interviewed witnesses to the classroom killings.

Young people called their parents from the Louisiana Technical College Friday morning, pleading for them to call 911. The school is located on Airline Highway at Winbourne Avenue. The investigation continues into why anyone would shoot and kill innocent school mates. Here is what we do know:

At 8:36, phone calls started pouring into Baton Rouge police from students inside the classroom building where the shots were fired.

At 8:37, police were on their way to the campus to investigate the complaints.

By 8:40, officers were entering the building, not knowing if the shooting was over or if someone with a gun was still roaming the halls.

"This is a situation where you have to analyze everything that goes on. There was nobody virtually that could have stopped, I believe, what happened today, absent checking everybody as they came into the building. But besides that, it's a sad commentary when you have young people who are here to be educated at a great institution. And yet, they are gunned down and become innocent victims of violence at school. So to those families, to parents, to other people in the community, relatives of these individuals on both sides, this is a tragic day for Baton Rouge, it's a tragic day for the nation," Mayor Kip Holden says.

The campus will remain closed until next Wednesday, February 13th. However, school officials say that may change, depending on funeral arrangements. LTC officials will meet with faculty and staff on Tuesday to help prepare them to work with students once they return to class. The school says ICare counselors are currently on-site providing support for students, faculty, staff, and family members. If you feel you need help processing the emotional effects of the killings at Louisiana Technical College, call Baton Rouge Crisis Intervention at 924-3900.

Thanks for the story, Deidra!




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More News On: CHARLES LEE THORNTON

Once ‘jovial’ Thornton grew increasingly confrontational in years leading up to shootings
source

Charles Lee Thornton had a long and tortured legal history with several of the people he confronted or killed Thursday night at City Hall in Kirkwood, Mo.

A review of federal and state court records Friday showed an escalating series of legal and personal confrontations between Thornton and public officials in Kirkwood.

But the fatal conflict baffled at least one lawyer who knew Thornton and once represented him during a civil lawsuit against the city for malicious prosecution. Irwin Roitman, a St. Louis lawyer, described Thornton as “intelligent” and “jovial.” Roitman said he never had the impression that Thornton was, in any way, violent.

“I remember being in the courtroom one day with Mr. Thornton, the building commissioner and some other officials, and there wasn’t the slightest indication he was hostile or aggressive,” Roitman said. “He was upbeat.”

Some city officials shared that sentiment. Testifying in state court last year, a city employee recalled that until the year 2000, Thornton was “always fun to run into” and “always had a funny word or a good greeting.”

But that began to change in 2001, when Kirkwood prosecuted Thornton, who owned a small construction firm, for dozens of municipal code violations, including illegal dumping and improper storage of building materials. He eventually was fined more than $18,000, which he never paid.

And twice during that period, Thornton was convicted in municipal court of assault and battery on Ken Yost, Kirkwood’s public works director, whom Thornton fatally shot Thursday. The municipal judge fined Thornton $2,000 for those assaults.

Incensed at being convicted of the code violations — the court fined a co-defendant only $1,296 — Thornton opened a legal and personal battle with the city.

He filed a lawsuit making civil rights and malicious prosecution claims against the city. A Missouri appeals court threw out the lawsuit in 2005, describing his pleadings as “incomprehensible.” Roitman had left the case two years before when Thornton began ignoring his legal advice and filing his own motions with the court.

Thornton also had begun attending City Council meetings regularly and occasionally addressing the council during public comment sessions.

Court records filed by the city said that while his behavior was sometimes disruptive, Thornton never was banned from the meetings.

The city’s patience ran out in the spring and early summer of 2006. Twice during council meetings, Thornton rose to discuss his complaints with the city. In later testimony, Thornton said he was mad “because of the city’s constant harassment, bogus tickets, document fraud and perjury.”

Thornton framed his complaints in harsh, racial terms, saying the city had a “plantation mentality” and alleging that the rules for addressing the council favored white people.

At one meeting, Councilwoman Connie Karr, whom Thornton later would kill, complained to Mayor Mike Swoboda that Thornton’s bluster offended her.

And at both meetings, Swoboda, whom Thornton later would wound, ordered Kirkwood Police Officer Thomas Ballman to remove him. In both instances, Thornton went limp, and officers dragged him from the meeting in handcuffs.

A municipal judge subsequently sentenced Thornton to four days in jail and fined him $799 for two disturbing-the-peace convictions.

Ballman also died in the shooting Thursday.

In January 2007, Thornton sued the city in federal court, alleging it had abridged his First Amendment right to address the council. source


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Breakin News: Female Student Gets In On Murder-Suicide Action at LA Tech College

Stop the Madness!

(CNN) -- A female student shot two other women and herself Friday morning inside a classroom on the campus of Louisiana Technical College in Baton Rouge, authorities said.



(Emergency personnel gather at a building at Louisiana Technical College, where three people died Friday, above)

Baton Rouge police Sgt. Don Kelly said officers responding to a 911 call about 8:30 a.m. found all three dead in a second-floor classroom.

"There was mass pandemonium, people running," Kelly told The Associated Press. "One officer -- the first into the classroom -- told me he could still smell gunpowder."

The names of the dead were not released.

About 20 people were in the classroom at the time of the shooting, Kelly said. He would not give the room number or say what kind of class it was. Video Watch Kelly describe the sequence of events »

No shots were fired anywhere else, Kelly said.


"It's all self-contained in one classroom," Kelly said. The shooter was not believed to have left the room at any point, he said, and "no other students outside the classroom were in any danger."

Police will interview the other students who were in the classroom to find out why the shooting occurred, Kelly said. source

***
**Sentiments expressed concerning Charles Lee Thornton is also echoed on this post** smh

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NOT the Kind of BLACK HISTORY I'm talking About!!

UPDATE: Thornton left a suicide note, brother says

The man who opened fire at a council meeting in Kirkwood, Mo., Thursday night left a suicide note, accoridng to the brother of gunman Charles Lee "Cookie" Thornton.

According to Arthur Thornton, the note said, "The truth will come out in the end." He said his brother left the note on his bed before going on the deadly shooting rampage.Thorton said his brother was "just trying to get people's attention." He said the note reflected his brother's growing frustration with local leaders.

Thornton killed five people before being shot by police at a Kirkwood City Council meeting, using two weapons in his attack.The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that Thornton used his own large-caliber revolver to kill police Officer William Briggs across the street from City Hall, and then took Briggs' weapon with him into the meeting.An impromptu memorial now sits on the steps of City Hall.
A reporter covering the meeting for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch said Thornton entered the City Council chambers, yelling "Shoot the mayor!" and opening fire.The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that among the dead were Councilwoman Connie Karr, Public Works Director Kenneth Yost and police officers Tom Ballman and Briggs. Two others, including Mayor Mike Swoboda, were injured.He then fired at the city attorney, who tried to fight off the attacker by throwing chairs, she said. The gunman then moved behind a desk where the council sits and fired at council members.
The Post-Dispatch reported that late last month, a federal judge in St. Louis dismissed a lawsuit in which Thornton, representing himself, claimed Kirkwood officials violated his free speech rights by prohibiting him from speaking out at meetings."My brother went to war tonight with the people of the government that was putting torment and strife into his life," said Gerald Thornton, the gunman's brother. "And he ended it."
Thornton had twice been convicted of disorderly conduct for disrupting meetings in 2006 with off-point complaints about persecution by officials.Friends and relatives said Thornton had a longstanding feud with city officials.
At earlier meetings, he said he'd received 150 tickets against his business.A friend said the city had ticketed Thornton's demolition and asphalt business for parking his commercial vehicles in the neighborhood. The friend said Thornton thought he was being singled out because he was black.

******

GUNMAN UPSET OVER TICKETS???

source

KIRKWOOD, Missouri (CNN) -- A St. Louis suburb will recover "but we will never be the same," its deputy mayor said Friday, the day after a gunman killed five people at a City Council meeting before police shot him to death

Witnesses identified the gunman as Charles Lee "Cookie" Thornton, a man who they said regularly disrupted meetings to make complaints.

Kirkwood Deputy Mayor Tim Griffin identified the dead as City Council members Connie Karr and Michael Lynch, Public Works Director Ken Yost and police Sgt. William Biggs and Officer Tom Ballman.

The city's mayor and a newspaper reporter also were shot and were hospitalized, officials said.

Mayor Mike Swoboda was listed in serious condition Friday morning, while Todd Smith of the Suburban Journals was in satisfactory condition, they said.

Police said the shooter had two guns when he entered the City Council chamber Thursday night -- a large-caliber revolver he brought with him and a service weapon he took from Biggs after shooting the police sergeant.

Police have not officially identified the suspect. Thornton's brother earlier had told a TV station his sibling "went to war tonight with the people that were of the government."

In an interview with CNN, Gerald Thornton repeatedly declined to say that his brother had done anything wrong. He said his brother felt his "constitutional protection was not guaranteed," but he refused to explain further or give any detail.

Don't Miss

• KMOV: Prayer vigil planned for shooting victims
• KSDK: Witness: Shooter said he wanted 'justice'

A friend of Thornton's, Ron Hodges, told The Associated Press the city had ticketed Thornton's demolition and asphalt business for parking his commercial vehicles illegally. Thornton said he had received 150 tickets, Hodges told the AP, and the tickets were "eating at him."

"He felt that as a black contractor he was being singled out," Hodges told the AP. "I guess he thought mentally he had no more recourse. That's not an excuse."

Tracy Panus, spokeswoman for St. Louis County police, said authorities believe the suspect parked his vehicle in a lot outside the police station and City Hall, encountered Biggs and shot him, then took his gun.

He proceeded into the council chambers, where he shot the other people.

A witness told the AP the gunman yelled, "Shoot the mayor!" as he stormed into the room.

"I heard [Thornton] yell something about a gun, and I looked up, and I saw Officer Ballman had been shot in the head," said Janet McNichols, a correspondent with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, in a video posted on the newspaper's Web site.

"Then I looked right in front of me, and Mr. Yost had been shot in the head too." Watch McNichols describe hiding under a chair as bullets flew »

Other Kirkwood officers came to the scene and shot and killed the gunman, Panus said.

She would not comment on specific security procedures at the City Council meeting but said the measures "are something that they followed."

Authorities are working to piece together exactly what happened, she said.

An eyewitness to the shootings said Thornton had disrupted City Council meetings frequently in the past.

"He would make inappropriate noises, heehawing like a donkey. He would make derogatory comments towards the director of public works, the city attorney and the mayor," Alan Hopefl said Friday. "None of it seemed to make any sense as far as him trying to make a point, as far as why he was really there and what his major complaints were." Watch Hopefl tell how he escaped the shooting scene »

Gerald Thornton told CNN affiliate KMOV-TV in St. Louis that his brother had serious grievances with the city government.

"The only way that I can put it in a context that you might understand is that my brother went to war tonight with the people that were of the government that was putting torment and strife into his life," Thornton told KMOV.

"And he had spoke on it as best he could in the courts, and they denied him all access to the rights of protection, and therefore he took it upon himself to go to war and end the issue." Watch the gunman's brother talk about a motive for the shooting »

Thornton sued the city of Kirkwood after he was arrested twice for disorderly conduct at two council meetings in 2006. He later was convicted, according to the First Amendment Center, a group that says it works to preserve First Amendment freedoms.

According to a Thursday article written by the First Amendment Center -- before the shooting -- Thornton asked to speak during public-comment portions of 2006 meetings on specific topics but instead discussed his alleged harassment by city officials.

In his lawsuit, Thornton said his First Amendment rights had been violated. But in a January 28 ruling, U.S. District Judge Catherine Perry said that the public-comment portion of a meeting could be reserved for certain groups and topics of discussion.

Bill Reineke, a builder and acquaintance of Thornton's for 15 years, said he sensed a change in him starting three months ago.

"He seemed to feel lately that things were going wrong," Reineke said. "He would run into City Hall once in a while during meetings, and he would talk about the plantation mentality of the mayor and board."

Reineke said Thornton had begun to hold grudges.

"I don't know what made him go off -- what made him twist -- but it's just a darn shame for everyone concerned," he said.

Kirkwood, a town of about 27,000 people, is about 10 miles west-southwest of St. Louis. Kirkwood's Web site bills the city as "Queen of the St. Louis Suburbs" with high property values and quality public schools.

********

Five People Shot @ City Council Meeting in MO

(CNN) -- A gunman killed five people and wounded two at a police station and City Council meeting in suburban St. Louis on Thursday night before officers shot and killed him, police said.

Charles Lee Thornton(above) was identified by witnesses as the gunman who opened fire at a City Council meeting.

1 of 2

Two of those killed were police officers, said Tracy Panus, spokeswoman for St. Louis County police.

"We have what we believe to be our suspect," Panus said. "There's no reason for the Kirkwood residents to feel unsafe at this point."

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that the dead included Councilwoman Connie Karr, Public Works Director Kenneth Yost and police officers Tom Ballman and William Biggs.

Mayor Mike Swoboda was wounded and in critical condition, and Suburban Journals newspaper reporter Todd Smith was in satisfactory condition, St. John's Mercy Hospital spokesman Bill McShane told The Associated Press.

The shootings began shortly after 7 p.m. just outside the city hall in Kirkwood, Missouri, when a man approached a police officer in the parking lot of the Kirkwood police station and fatally shot him, Panus said. The officer died at the scene. Watch emergency vehicles swarm the scene »

The suspect then went into the City Council chambers, she said, and killed a second police officer, then fatally shot three city officials who were attending the meeting, Panus said.

Kirkwood police officers returned fire, Panus said, killing the suspect.

Police did not identify the suspect or victims.

A correspondent for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Janet McNichols, who was in the City Council meeting when the shooting took place, identified the gunman as Charles Lee Thornton, the newspaper reported.

Don't Miss

• KMOV: Gunfire at City Council meeting

Thornton sued the city of Kirkwood after he was arrested twice for disorderly conduct at two council meetings in 2006. He was later convicted, according to the First Amendment Center, a group that says it works to preserve First Amendment freedoms.

According to a Thursday article written by the center -- before the shooting -- Thornton asked to speak during public-comment portions of 2006 meetings on specific topics, but instead spoke on what he alleged was harassment of him by city officials.

In the lawsuit, Thornton said his First Amendment rights had been violated. However, U.S. District Judge Catherine Perry said in a January 28 ruling that the public-comment portion of a meeting could be reserved for certain groups and topics of discussion.

Rather than discussing the subject at hand, Perry wrote, "Thornton engaged in personal attacks against the mayor, Kirkwood and the city council. ... Because Thornton does not have a First Amendment right to engage in irrelevant debate and to voice repetitive, personal, virulent attacks against Kirkwood and its city officials during the comment portion of a city council public hearing, his claim fails as a matter of law," the ruling said, according to the First Amendment Center.

Thornton's brother, Gerald, told CNN affiliate KMOV that his brother had serious grievances with the city government.

"The only way that I can put it in a context that you might understand is that my brother went to war tonight with the people that were of the government that was putting torment and strife into his life," Thornton told KMOV.

"And he had spoke on it as best he could in the courts and they denied him all access to the rights of protection, and therefore he took it upon himself to go to war and end the issue."

Bill Reineke, a builder and acquaintance of Thornton's for 15 years, said he sensed a change in him starting three months ago.

"He seemed to feel lately that things were going wrong," Reineke said. "He would run into city hall once in a while during meetings and he would talk about the plantation mentality of the mayor and board."

Reineke said Thornton had begun to hold grudges.

"I don't know what made him go off -- what made him twist -- but it's just a darn shame for everyone concerned," he said.

Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt responded to news of the shooting from Jefferson City.

"Tonight our fellow Missourians in the city of Kirkwood were terrorized by a senseless and horrific crime at an open government meeting." he said.

"I join Missourians tonight in praying for the victims, their families and friends, and everyone in the community of Kirkwood."

Kirkwood is about 10 miles west-southwest of St. Louis and is home to about 27,000 people. Kirkwood's Web site bills the city as "Queen of the St. Louis Suburbs" with high property values and quality public schools.

It was also the scene of another high-profile recent criminal case. Local pizzeria employee Michael Devlin pleaded guilty to charges including kidnapping and sexual assault after police found two missing boys in his Kirkwood apartment in January 2007. One of the boys was held for four years. source

***
What words can be expressed to the loved ones of those who were killed by Thornton?? Somehow "sorry" just doesn't do it.
If a person had such deep rooted issues with a city...MOVE!
Was it his pride? Believing that if he moved, Kirkwood, MO would somehow have won??

So instead of moving-you take the lives of others.
Sadness.
I will never accept the words of others, when they want to speak on how crazy Bagdhad, Iraq and other middle eastern countries are...when the great ole U.S. of A..IS CHOCKFUL OF CUCKOO 4 COCOA PUFF CRITTERS AS WELL!
What's the difference between suicide bombers and murder suicides at MALLS, SCHOOLS, HOMES, WORK PLACES, CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS?
There is no difference.
They're both insane acts, by people who felt that was their only answer.
We are in a state of emegency...and as long as U.S.A continues in its downward spiral, we'll always hear of people such as Thornton.
I pray that God brings peace to loved ones of the victims, as well as the family of Thornton.

You Betta Recognize-this is no joke.

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UPDATE: DUHHH, TELL US SOMETHING WE DON'T KNOW! "HE WAS ONLY 14 YRS OLD!"

Ohio Student Gunman Had Mental Problems
credit: AOL news, AP


CLEVELAND (AP) - A 14-year-old student who opened fire at his high school, wounding four people before killing himself, had a history of mental problems and was known for cussing at teachers and bickering with students.



Asa H. Coon, who had been suspended for fighting, warned classmates of an attack - but none took him seriously. "When he got suspended, he was like `I got something for you all,"' said student Frances Henderson, who said she often got into arguments with Coon. "I guess this is what he had."



Police believe Coon targeted the two teachers he shot Wednesday. He also shot two students while others hid in closets and bathrooms or ran out of SuccessTech Academy alternative school. Students gathered outside, many in tears, hugging one another and talking on cell phones.



Parents were angry that firearms got into a school equipped with metal detectors that students said were intermittently used.

Coon's troubles seemed to come to a tipping point this week when he was suspended for fighting outside with a classmate. Students said Monday's fight was over God - Coon told his classmates he didn't believe in God and instead worshipped rocker Marilyn Manson .



Armed with two revolvers Wednesday, Coon fired eight shots, Police Chief Michael McGrath said. Police found a duffel bag stocked with ammunition and three knives in a bathroom, but no suicide note, he said.



Math teacher David Kachadourian, who was treated at a hospital for a minor wound to the back of one shoulder, knew of no reason why Coon might target him. Coon was a student in his beginning algebra class. "I never felt personally threatened or personally at risk," Kachadourian said. "I had concerns about him, yes. He seemed like an angry young man. I did not fear for my own safety."



Coon had mental health problems, spent time in two juvenile facilities and threatened to commit suicide while in a mental health facility, according to juvenile court records obtained by The Plain Dealer newspaper. The Department of Children and Family Services was called to Coon's home in 2000 because he had burns on his arms and scratches on his forehead, the newspaper said.



When he was 12, Coon was charged in juvenile court with domestic violence. His mother, Lori, had called police and told them her son slapped her and called her a vulgar name. She had been trying to intervene in a fight between Coon and his twin sister, The Plain Dealer reported. He was also suspended from school last year for attempting to hurt a student, the newspaper said. "He used to cuss all the teachers out," said Henderson, 14.



Coon, who is white, stood out in the predominantly black school for dressing in a goth style, wearing a black trench coat, black boots, a dog collar and chains, she said. Henderson, who is black, she said she didn't believe race played a role in the shootings. "He's crazy. He threatened to blow up our school. He threatened to stab everybody," said Doneisha LeVert, 14. "We didn't think nothing of it."



People at Coon's home late Wednesday declined to comment. All classes in the city school district were canceled Thursday, and school officials said counseling would be available for students at recreation centers throughout Cleveland.



Witnesses said the shooter moved through SuccessTech, a converted downtown office building, working his way up through the first two floors of administrative offices to the third floor of classrooms. He was wearing a Manson shirt, black jeans and black-painted finger nails, police said. Charles Blackwell, president of SuccessTech's student-parent organization, said he did not know how Coon got into the building.



Blackwell said there was a security guard on the first floor, but that the position of another guard on the third floor had been eliminated. The first person shot, 14-year-old Michael Peek, had punched Coon in the face right before the shootings began, student Rasheem Smith said. Coon "came out of the bathroom and bumped Mike and he (Mike) punched him in his face. Mike started walking. He shot Mike in the side," said Smith, 15. Darnell Rodgers, 18, was walking up to another floor when the stairway suddenly became flooded with students. "They were screaming, and they were saying, `Oh my God! Oh my God!' I knew something was wrong, but thought that it was probably just a fight, so I just kept going," Rodgers said. He realized he had been shot when he felt his arm burning. Rodgers was released from a hospital after treatment for a graze wound to his right elbow.

The other student shot was taken to a children's hospital, which would not release the student's condition. Michael Grassie, a 42-year-old history teacher, was hospitalized in fair condition late Wednesday after about two hours of surgery. The hospital would not disclose the nature of the surgery. SuccessTech Academy, with about 240 students, is an alternative high school in the public school district that stresses technology and entrepreneurship.

****

Tragic.

JEALOUSY + GUN= DEADLY COMBINATION!

Sheriff's Deputy Kills Six in Rampage
Filed Under: Nation News

credit: AP, AOL news

CRANDON, Wis. (Oct. 7) - An off-duty sheriff's deputy went on a shooting rampage early Sunday at a home where seven young people had gathered for pizza and movies, killing six and critically injuring the other before authorities took him down, officials said.

Tyler Peterson, an off-duty sheriff's deputy, killed six young people and wounded another at this house in Crandon, Wis., Sunday. The town's mayor said a sniper shot and killed the gunman.

The gunman, Tyler Peterson, was 20 years old and worked full-time as a Forest County deputy sheriff and part-time as a Crandon police officer, said Police Chief John Dennee. Three of the victims were students at the small town's high school, and three were recent graduates, a school official said.

The gunman may have graduated from the same high school. Peterson was not working at the time of the shooting, Sheriff Keith Van Cleve said. The survivor was hospitalized in nearby Marshfield, Dennee said. A Crandon police officer who fired back was treated for minor injuries and released. Gary Bradley, mayor of the city of about 2,000, said earlier Sunday that the suspect had been brought down by a sniper, but Van Cleve would not confirm that officers shot the suspect.

It wasn't immediately clear what the gunman's motive was, but the mother of a 14-year-old victim said the suspect may have been a jealous boyfriend. The shooting occurred in a white, two-story duplex about a block from downtown Crandon. "It was a pizza and movie party," Dennee said.

Three of the victims were Crandon High School students, said schools Superintendent Richard Peters, and the other three had graduated within the past three years.

"There is probably nobody in Crandon who is not affected by this," Peters said, adding that students would be especially affected. "They are going to wake up in shock and disbelief and a lot of pain."

Peters did not know whether Peterson had also graduated from the 300-student high school. But Crandon resident Karly Johnson, 16, said that she knew the gunman and that he had helped her in a tech education class. "He graduated with my brother," she said. "He was nice. He was an average guy. Normal. You wouldn't think he could do that."

One of the dead was 14-year-old Lindsey Stahl, said her mother, Jenny Stahl, 39. She said her daughter called her Saturday night and asked whether she could sleep over at a friend's house. Jenny Stahl agreed. "I'm waiting for somebody to wake me up right now. This is a bad, bad dream," the weeping mother said.

"All I heard it was a jealous boyfriend and he went berserk. He took them all out." Marci Franz, 35, who lives two houses south of the duplex, said gunshots awoke her. "I heard probably five or six shots, a short pause and then five or six more," she said. "I wasn't sure if it was gunfire initially. I thought some kids were messing around and hitting a nearby metal building."

Then she heard eight louder shots and tires squealing, she said. "I was just about to get up and call it in, and I heard sirens," she said. "There's never been a tragedy like this here. There's been individual incidents, but nothing of this magnitude." Her husband, David Franz, 36, said it was hard to accept that someone in law enforcement committed such an act.

"The first statement we said to each other was, how did he get through the system?" David Franz said. "How do they know somebody's background, especially that young? It is disturbing, to say the least."

The sheriff said he would meet with state Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen on Monday morning to discuss the case. Dennee said the state Department of Criminal Investigation will handle the case because the suspect was a deputy and officer. The Crandon School District called off classes Monday. The community, about 225 miles north of Milwaukee in an area known for logging and outdoor activities, is facing a trying time but is pulling together, Bradley said. "We are a strong community.

We always have been," he said. "This is agonizing, but we will prevail."

********

My thoughts and prayers are with the community and most of all the family in Jesus' name.

Ivent

I guess it was that serious!

Man Kills Self at City Council Meeting
credits: AOL News


CLARKSVILLE, Tennessee (Oct. 5) - A business owner shot and killed himself during a city council meeting after members voted against his request to rezone his property, witnesses said.

Officer talking to witnesses in Clarksville Tenn., after a man killed himself during a council meeting.

Ronald " Bo " Ward , owner of Bo 's Barber Shop, had told the council his business would go under if he could not get his home rezoned as commercial. After the 5-7 vote Thursday night, Ward stood and walked toward the council.

"Ya'll have put me under ... I'm out of here," he said before shooting himself in the head with a small handgun.

Fire and police officials attending the meeting immediately ushered the audience of about 50 into the hallway, where several people were sobbing.

At least one police officer is always on duty during council meetings, officials said. However, visitors are not required to go through a metal detector or any other screening.

"When a gun gets whipped out like that, someone is going to get shot, but I didn't know who," Councilman Bill Summers said. "You could've been right next to him, and I don't think you could have stopped that."

Mayor Johnny Piper said Thursday's council meeting would be the last held in that room. Ward had said the rezoning would increase his property value, allowing him to secure a loan to offset debt he incurred when he expanded his shop.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
2007-10-05 02:27:16

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Lord in this case, it seems that a desperate measure called for a desperate act. I pray that peace and healing descends upon those who are affected by this tragedy in Jesus' name. amen.