3 Killed in Missouri Church Shooting
12 August 2007
NEOSHO, Mo. - A gunman opened fire in the sanctuary of a southwest Missouri church Sunday, killing three people and wounding several others, authorities said.
About 25 to 50 people were briefly held hostage at the First Congregational Church until the gunman surrendered, Neosho spokeswoman Desiree Bridges said.
About four or five people were wounded, Police Chief Dave McCracken said, but several others who were injured fled the scene.
The shooter was being held at the Newton County Jail, but police were not releasing any information about him. Bridges said he was related to someone in the church, but declined to elaborate. No charges had been filed Sunday, McCracken said.
The gunman had two small-caliber handguns and one 9 mm semiautomatic machine pistol with a large magazine, McCracken said. The shooting followed the 1 p.m. service, which is held in Spanish. About 50 people, ranging in age from children to the elderly, were in the church at the time.
The gunman surrendered to authorities after about 10 minutes of negotiation.
"At the time that the rescue attempt was successful we had approximately 20 people in the sanctuary still," he said. "We had some people who escaped the crime scene prior to the police arrival that were wounded, and we had some people escape during the process and at the time of the rescue."
He said no one was injured during the arrest.
McCracken said he could not confirm whether the gunman was a member of the church. But he said an incident involving the suspect and a family that attended the First Congregational Church on Saturday night fueled the shooting Sunday.
"At this point though, we don't have any information more than that," McCracken said.
The identities of the deceased were being withheld, McCracken said.
NEOSHO, Mo. - A gunman opened fire in the sanctuary of a southwest Missouri church Sunday, killing three people and wounding several others, authorities said.
About 25 to 50 people were briefly held hostage at the First Congregational Church until the gunman surrendered, Neosho spokeswoman Desiree Bridges said.
About four or five people were wounded, Police Chief Dave McCracken said, but several others who were injured fled the scene.
The shooter was being held at the Newton County Jail, but police were not releasing any information about him. Bridges said he was related to someone in the church, but declined to elaborate. No charges had been filed Sunday, McCracken said.
The gunman had two small-caliber handguns and one 9 mm semiautomatic machine pistol with a large magazine, McCracken said. The shooting followed the 1 p.m. service, which is held in Spanish. About 50 people, ranging in age from children to the elderly, were in the church at the time.
The gunman surrendered to authorities after about 10 minutes of negotiation.
"At the time that the rescue attempt was successful we had approximately 20 people in the sanctuary still," he said. "We had some people who escaped the crime scene prior to the police arrival that were wounded, and we had some people escape during the process and at the time of the rescue."
He said no one was injured during the arrest.
McCracken said he could not confirm whether the gunman was a member of the church. But he said an incident involving the suspect and a family that attended the First Congregational Church on Saturday night fueled the shooting Sunday.
"At this point though, we don't have any information more than that," McCracken said.
The identities of the deceased were being withheld, McCracken said.
Labels: Christianity, United States
posted by HRM Deborah of Israel and the Messenger of Peace at 2:17 AM
2 Comments:
I am from the small town of Neosho were it seems like the old town where everyone knows everyone and peacefully it usually stays. This is so tragic and it is sad that someone had to take these extreme measures of hurting people. I hope this man is punished to the fullest of the justice system. It has not been formally released to the press but I do know someone that was killed in that shooting. My deepest regrets and prayers and thoughts are with his family. God bless those people that were there in that church when it happened.
Anonymous,
This was so sad to me too and may God bless you as well as these families. For you because you couldn't have expressed better.
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