11 dead in Geneva County shooting spree
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Interview with Geneva Mayor Wynnton Melton
Interview with Geneva Mayor Wynnton Melton
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Officials with the Alabama Fire Marshal’s Office investigate the scene of a fire in Covington County which is believed to be related to a shooting spree which has left 10 people dead in Geneva County.
Published: March 10, 2009
Updated: March 13, 2009
Hell came to Samson Tuesday in the form of a deranged gunman whose killing spree left 10 victims dead before he turned a gun on himself.
The gunman, identified by eyewitnesses and a former high school classmate as Michael McLendon, 27, began his mad, violent rampage in Kinston, where one victim was found dead in a burned house, according to authorities.
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McLendon then went to Samson where he rampaged through a neighborhood, killing four adults and a 1-year-old child at one residence, and two other people at nearby homes. A 3-month-old infant was also injured in the shootings.
He then went on a random shooting spree through Samson, shooting and killing a woman at a Big Little store on State Highway 52 and another victim at Samson Pipe and Supply.
McLendon also opened fire on Bradley TrueValue Hardware store. Luckily, no one was injured.
“We were just business as normal and all of a sudden there were bullets flying and glass was everywhere,” owner David Bradley said. “We realized what it was and grabbed our guns but then he was gone.”
After McLendon left Samson he fled to Geneva, where he encountered law enforcement officers. Geneva County deputies rammed the suspect’s Mitsubishi Eclipse in front of Alabama Title Loans on State Highway 52, near Wal-Mart.
Gunfire was exchanged and Geneva Police Chief Frankie Lindsey was shot in the shoulder, though his wound was not serious. A chase then continued to Reliable Products where McLendon took his own life.
The children and one of the adults were the family of a Geneva County Sheriff’s Office deputy. The deputy was one of the officers who pursued McLendon to Reliable.
“This is probably the worst thing that’s happened in my career,” Sheriff Greg Ward said. “...While the shootout was going on at Reliable, he had no idea what had happened to his family.”
“You wanna talk about a horrific scene…”
Alina Knowles, her father-in-law Tom Knowles and Barry Aplin were at a house on Pullum Street next door to the residence where five people were killed when the shootings took place.
Aplin heard McLendon shooting and saw him chase a woman into a nearby residence and open fire.
“I saw him in the living room just blazing the world up,” Aplin said.
Knowles said she saw McLendon open fire on her neighbors and their guests who were sitting on the front porch.
“You wanna talk about a horrific scene, you see what I saw. I went over to get that baby, and there was blood all over that porch,” Alina said, referring to the child who survived the shooting. “The baby was covered in her mother’s blood.”
Unanswered questions
Authorities have yet to establish many of the facts of the shootings. Alabama State Trooper Kevin Cook said investigators have established more than 10 different crime scenes in McLendon’s spree. Authorities have yet to identify the victims in the shooting. Eyewitnesses have identified them, but the Dothan Eagle is awaiting next-of-kin notification to release the names.
Aplin said one of the victims was one of his best friends.
“I ain’t sleeping tonight,” Aplin said. “That was my best friend just gone.”
Also unknown at this time is McClendon’s motive for killing.
Cecil Knowles, Alina’s husband, wasn’t at home when the shootings happened, but said McLendon was related to some of the victims and was a frequent guest in the neighborhood.
“I went to high school with him and thought he was a cool guy,” he said. “I don’t know what tipped his lid.”
Jerry Hysmith, a Samson resident, said he had worked with McLendon at Reliable and found him shy, but agreeable.
“He never said anything out of the way to me or anyone,” he said. “He had a great mother and came from a good family.”
Photo of a storefront that was shot during the shooting spree.
Officials with the Alabama Fire Marshal’s Office investigate the scene of a fire in Covington County which is believed to be related to a shooting spree which has left 10 people dead in Geneva County
Reader Reactions
As everyone, I have so much going through my mind right now as I watch our little corner of the world make national news in such a negative way. In the next few days, no doubt, we will all realize just how far-reaching this will become. I’m sending up prayers for those left behind to deal with the aftermath of such evil and madness.
Regarding my comments about guns, I believe that the 2nd Amendment “shall NOT be infringed”, which it has on many occassions in the last few years. I am of the Ted Nugent mentality when it comes to guns and swift punishment. While all of this tragic event unfolded so fast and without much apparent prior notice, it is difficult to say whether any of the general public, armed or not, could have stopped it. However, the screw that was loose in this guy’s head started to go a long time ago.
Society has been conditioned to believe that there are very few consequences for their actions and it starts very young. Parenting decisions are being taken away from us little by little by people that think spanking is bad. I’m standing up to say NOT spanking an unruly child should be equated with child abuse. If a child grows up with no consequences for their actions, they will not know why they are sitting in a prison one day, or worse, dead because they were not fearful for their actions. I don’t know what the family circumstances were, but I think everyone will agree that times, they are achangin’. Part of the reason is that children are not brought up to believe they will burn for anything they do. When God is taken out of almost every aspect of unbringing, things like this are surely to happen. We are cutting our own throats when we elect Godless people to conduct our affairs and eventually dictate our home life.
In regards to “everyone” carrying a gun, that was a broad statement. Obviously, people who are felons or are diagnosed as unstable should not be allowed to carry. I do believe it should be a personal choice to carry or possess a firearm. An unarmed citizenry is at the mercy of it’s government.
To landsurfer; thanks for understanding what I meant about carrying a gun. Yes, people are spoiled rotten. You can look around and irreverance is everywhere. People just don’t care anymore about their demeanor in public, their appearance, the way they treat others, value of human life, etc. It’s that kind of apathy that breeds incidents like yesterday. Some people (like McClendon) have chosen to take this irreverance to unparalled heights.
We may never know what set him off. This morning, there was another mass shooting in Germany at a school. Evil is among us every day. It is up to us to turn it around or face the consequences.
To our Geneva County and surrounding area families,
I want to first send our family’s condolences to everyone that has suffered in this senseless act. Our prayers are with you all in this loss. I also want to thank the efforts of all the private citizens that tried to help our community yesterday and were hurt or killed. Additionally I would also like to thank the law enforcement community for their actions in putting an end to the killing and what they are doing for us in a day-to-day effort.
I would also like to know from the Dothan Eagle if a fund is being established to help the victims and their families and if it will be published.
It makes me terrified for my son (who is now 10 months) to grow up in this world! An innocent person that was enjoying a beautiful day was just driving down 52 and looked over and BAM he was shot to death!!
I agree this is so tragic and something so awful that i cannot believe it happened so close to home. It could happen anywhere, anytime! My heart and prayers goes out to ALL who were involved, especially that sheriff who lost his family b/c he was trying to protect others!
Reality…
You never know what the straw was that broke the camel’s back for this guy. What were the circumstances that led this young man to do this? You do not know what you would do in his situation. So you can’t say you wouldn’t go mad. You do not know any of his background except what the media is telling you now.
Some things we probably all agree on—
1. this is a tragic event.
2. this CAN happen in our own backyard.
3. before March 10, did this guy show some signs that he was troubled, confused, angry, hurt, depressed, or going mental. if so, did anybody try to help him before it got this far?
4. more gun control is not the answer.
DOSE OF COMMON SENSE—-i agree that we live in a more dangerous world than we did a few years ago. i never thought i would see the day that i would carry a gun or my father would carry a gun. but we must have an available resource to protect ourselves when troubled people go “outside of their own minds”.
FACT—- This is a crazy, wild world we live in. And no matter how hard we try, no one is truely safe. This is why law abiding citizens carry sidearms now.
There has been a huge increase in the number of handgun permits over the last few years. This incident yesterday is one of the reasons why!
Being a vigilante is not the answer either. An eye for an eye will lead to world blindness.
A prayer for the victims and their families is the very least we can do.
Ok, to make myself clear, I was just saying that other people having a gun wouldn’t have helped. You can totally disagree. This guy didn’t have a regular hand gun. He had a M-16 (based upon Mr. Lindsey’s comments on the news last night.) I just think the whole matter is terrible and that gun control would have helped; however, it isn’t the solution.
I feel so bad for the victims and their families. This is just insane. What in the world could have happened to make this person flip his lid like this and kill? It terrifies me that something like this could happen. Makes me want to hid my children away from the world.
It’s a “comment”, and everyone is free to make their own comment whether or not it conforms to your desires of what time it is or not…period!
One doesn’t leave out the other. You have no idea who cares and who doesn’t. Only your decision to judge such a thing when it is quite evident there is NO WAY you can KNOW.
Who is self absorbed?
And that right there is why our country is in the shape its in! People are so absorbed in themselves that they don’t really see past their noses (or opinions) and just complain angrily, instead of caring about those around them and working with neighbors. Next time read through all the comments to understand the context instead of just shooting off at the mouth! This isn’t a chat room or opinion article, this is a news article.
I always love when others decide what time it is for everyone…if you do not wish to participate, or voice in opinion n the matter then don’t…If you wish to type your prayer, instead of gathering your family together to pray for them in “real life”, then by all means, do so. If you think your spelling is so fantastic then go enter a spelling B. This isn’t a college paper, and typos don’t mean flip. It is a comment board and ignorant opinions which are unfounded, and could even be dangerous if left unchallenged, need to be challenged.
Let’s get back on track here folks, these towns need our prayers, these Law Enforcement people need our prayers. We need to commend these departments as they have been very deliberate in what is released to the media to make sure the facts are straight. So many times some one leaks bad info and every one chases it and the truth gets overlooked. Great cooperation amongst the agencies of this area. These areas are very spread out and hard to cover them all. This is a terrible ordeal and as much fun as debating guns and misspelled words, this is not the place or the time.
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