A shattered peace in rural Alabama
Published: March 12, 2009
Updated: March 13, 2009
By most accounts, Michael McLendon was an ordinary guy living a hapless existence in a quiet Geneva County town. People who knew him described him as quiet and respectful, a person who “did what he was told.”
Someone who remembered McLendon from high school characterized him as “a cool guy.”
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No one seemed to really know him. Now no one in Geneva County will ever forget him.
McLendon, a weapons enthusiast, loaded up a .38 handgun, a shotgun and two assault rifles and set out to obliterate all who had “done him wrong.” So far, police have recreated a 24-mile trail of bloodshed littered with 10 victims, mostly members of his own immediate family, along with their three family dogs.
While investigators work to sort out all that took place — they haven’t ruled out the possibility of finding more victims — the people of Geneva County struggle to understand what happened in their quiet communities.
Samson, where most of the deaths occurred, is the sort of town where everyone knows one another. Residents knew the killer and his victims, who many describe as “salt of the earth.”
The bucolic life in rural Geneva County may seem to return to normal soon, but we expect it will never really be the same in Samson, where McLendon wiped out several members of his family. Or Kinston, where McLendon executed his mother and her dogs before setting the family home ablaze. Or Geneva, where his murderous rampage ended in suicide at a factory where he spent an unhappy stint making metal vents and grilles.
There are no easy lessons to be learned from this senseless violence. These quiet towns are no less safe today than they were on Monday. The events of Tuesday afternoon, the deadliest in our state’s history, are an anomaly, a furious and unexpected eruption from a source no one suspected.
The events are so unusual that they’ve been reported through news outlets all over the world. The families, friends and neighbors of the victims should know those stories elicit empathy and compassion in every corner of the globe.
The greater tragedy, however, would be if the people of Geneva County allow these events to rob them of their peace of mind in their homes. We hope our friends to the west can cope with the grief and find perspective and peace.
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Reader Reactions
Acts like this have been occuring for centuries… through war, genocide, fights over territory and property, etc. In the wild west it was shoot outs and attacks from neighboring tribes. Other things that we can’t control are Car Accidents, Tornadoes, Lightening, Fires, Floods, Hurricanes… THE DIFFERENCE IS now we have the internet and TV to let everyone else know what happened in our own little neighborhood.
You can NOT stop alot of things from happening, but there are choices to how you respond to it: you can choose whether you turn on the TV or sign on to the internet to hear about it. If you do choose to know what is going on, what do you do with the information once you know? Do you use the opportunity to make things better for yourself and those around you?
Don’t let these events paralyze you with fear, take action and make a positive difference.
I don’t think any town, no matter how small,is exempt from these things now. The internet has made it possible for anyone to learn anything. You wanna learn how to make illegal drugs, do a search you’ll find something on it. You want to learn how to use high power automatic weapons, do a search.
The law enforcement can’t do much about it because it would take ten million law enforcement people to get it under control.
When thirteen year olds can get on the internet and look up anything with no supervision, it is just like throwing them out into the world and letting them do what they want. They are kids and can’t be left to the whole world alone. It is a sad day in America when kids can find out how to kill another kid by the computer in our own homes.
Our kids need us to be there as a friend,not a computer.
“Happiness is an attitude. We either make ourselves miserable, or happy or strong. the amount of work is the same.“ Francesca Reigler
Tragedy occurs in all our lives no matter where we live, what we do, or who we are…. the choice we make is how we let it shape the person we are are or who we want to become.
Do we learn from this incident? Do we reach out to the person that appears quiet and shy and friendless? Do we take time to LISTEN to one another? Do we stop putting people down and start lifting them up instead? Do we ask for help when we need it and say that it is okay to cry?
First of all I would like to express my sympathy and condolences to all the families that lost loved ones in this tragedy.I live in the local communities that have been affected by this tragic event. I would also like to say I personally did not know this person that committed this act of violence but I think it fair to say he was a troubled person and I find it hard to believe there were no signs of his mental state.Their are plenty of lessons to be learned from this event such as we as a small community are no longer immune to the violence of big cities that we see on the news.In my opinion this may and should be an awakening to what may come in the future as our country and its values are declining and changing on a daily basis.Satellite Television and the internet has brought brutal reality to rural America.I think our country is in more serious trouble than the average person realizes and our youth that is growing up in this mess will be affected by it.I would like to close by saying in my opinion the only thing minutely good that came from this was that the insanity of this person lasted long enough for him to turn the gun on himself and save the taxpayer countless dollars in feeding, housing and due process to prosecute him by taking his own miserable life.
My heart goes out to these families and the community. I live in SC and I am now second guessing even going to the park. What a madman! I hope that you will somehow find peace amongst this tragedy.
i grew up in this area- my best childhood memories are of Clayhatchee, a hole in the wall with simple folks, and the noisiest things to happen involved John Deeres and peanut trailers.
this tragedy has closed the book on that.
it’s over. the simple life we so enjoyed here in the wiregrass is gone.
my grandfather used to say that we are in our own world and nobody really knew we were here or cared at all that we were here. Fine with him. Leave us be and we’ll be fine without you.
also thought that things like this happened because “City Livin’” is what drove them mad.
well, this tragedy has done what satellite tv and the internet has done- it has connected us with the rest of the world. Sadly, we didn’t ask to be part of the global community of victims.
Anyway, we have arrived.
my thoughts and prayers for those folks down there.
and a tear for losing the innocence of small town life that i was born into.
peace.
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