Coffee County DA: Shooter planned attack

The gunman who killed 11 people, including himself, may have been planning his shooting spree for a while.

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Coffee County District Attorney Gary McAliley said more than 20 empty ammunition boxes, lots of military and survival gear, and lots of medical supplies were found in Michael McLendon’s home in Kinston, where he killed his mother and set the house on fire before driving to Samson and killing 9 other people.

“We have gone through the house where it all started,” McAliley said Wednesday afternoon. “It’s obvious to me he had planned doing this kind of thing and had for some time.”

Though the house was set on fire, authorities were able to find several items in the remains, including a list of people he had worked with at Kelley Foods who had “done him wrong,” and what they had done, like reporting him for not wearing his ear plugs or cutting meat too thin. McLendon had recently quit his job there. His mother recently lost her job at Pilgrim’s Pride.

According to a statement from Erik Ennis, human resources manager at Kelley Foods, McLendon “was employed from July 27, 2007, until he voluntarily quit on Wednesday of last week.

“Michael by nature was a quiet person that never had very much to say. He just did his job,” the statement read. “He was liked by his co-workers and worked well with others.”

Other things found on lists in McLendon’s home were specific sites, including Kelley Foods, Pilgrim’s Pride, and Reliable Products, which is where McLendon took his own life after exchanging gunfire with police. McAliley said McLendon also had a list with the names of eight area attorneys, all of whom will be contacted to see what they know about McLendon

“Apparently, he had his mind on talking to a lawyer,” he said.

McAliley said neighbors reported that McLendon was often out behind his house firing weapons, and had a list of weapons he was trying to buy. During the shooting spree, McLendon was armed with four guns, including two assault rifles.
“He was apparently very good with his guns,” he said.

And McLendon was apparently often the target of ridicule about his weight. McAliley said he was teased and referred to as “dough boy.”  Court records show he was 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighed more than 200 pounds.

Junior Chambers, a neighbor of the McLendons, said he spoke with Michael McLendon about an hour before the shootings began.

“Lisa McLendon had left me a note about plowing up her garden for her,” Chambers said. “She said her tiller was broken, so I went up to the house around 2 p.m. Michael was there and a maroon car was sitting in the driveway. I told him about his mother wanting me to till up the garden and we walked to the back of the house and I looked at the tiller. We just talked about the garden. He seemed fine. He didn’t seem like anything was out of the ordinary, but I didn’t see Lisa at all.”

Chambers said about an hour later, “a man driving by their house saw smoke and he came up to my house and was blowing the horn. He told me their house was on fire and I told him to call 911 and then I drove down there. I saw smoke and flames coming out of a window where the living room was. We didn’t know anyone was at home.”

Officials said the Ino and Kinston Volunteer Fire Departments responded to the fire call and one of the firemen discovered Lisa McLendon’s body.

Enterprise Ledger staff writer Carol Brand contributed to this story.