MO - Six killed in shooting at Kirkwood council meeting, 7 Feb 2008

[PrayersForMaura]

Police shot the gunman, who had hit Kirkwood Mayor Mike Swoboda, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, which had a reporter attending the meeting.
The reporter said a police officer, council members Michael H.T. Lynch and Connie Karr, and Public Works Director Kenneth Yost also were shot.
The victims were taken to St. John's Mercy Hospital, but Kirkwood police told The Associated Press that no one was available to provide any information. St. Louis County police did not return several calls, though a news conference was scheduled for later Thursday.
The Post-Dispatch reporter said the 7 p.m. meeting had just started when the shooter, who she identified as Charles Lee "Cookie" Thornton, rushed into the council chambers yelling and began opening fire with at least one weapon. He started yelling "shoot the mayor" while walking around and firing, hitting a police officer first, the reporter said.
The reporter also said the shooter fired at the city attorney, who tried to fight off the attacker by throwing chairs. The shooter then moved behind desk where the council sits and fired more shots at council members.

http://www.kansascity.com/news/breaking_news/story/480528.html

 

[Spazkat9696]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23059784/ Updated info says 2 police officers are among the dead.

 

[PrayersForMaura]

McNichols said the shooter first fired at Tom Ballman, a police officer at the meeting. She said she looked up to see the officer shot in the head.
Thornton then targeted Public Works Director Kenneth Yost, who was sitting in front of McNichols. He was also hit in the head, she said.
"After that, I was on my stomach under the chairs," she said. "I laid on my stomach waiting to get shot. Oh God, it was a horror."
McNichols said Thornton continued to yell about the mayor, and from his voice and the gunshots, she could tell he had approached the dais at the front of the room where the council sits behind a semicircular desk.
At some point he fired at City Attorney John Hessel, who told McNichols he fended the attacker off by throwing chairs. She saw Hessel later, appearing uninjured except for a knot on his head. Among those hit, in addition to Ballman and Yost, were Mayor Mike Swoboda, and council members Michael H.T. Lynch and Connie Karr, McNichols said. Conditions were not known for any of them.

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/ne...C9F47E8DFBA0B871862573E90007E20F?OpenDocument

 

[PrayersForMaura]

6 are reported to be dead.

Here are the people reportedly shot, conditions unknown:
Michael H.T. Lynch
Connie Karr
Kirkwood Mayor Mike Swoboda
?

Reported Dead:
Public Works Director Kenneth Yost
Officer Tom Ballman
Officer ??
Shooter Charles Lee Thornton

That must mean two of those shot with conditions unknown are dead
I have an awful feeling that the mayor was one of them

 

[Spazkat9696]

Maura Several places are reporting he was killed by the police. Are you sure he killed himself? http://www.nebraska.tv/Global/story.asp?S=7841198&nav=menu605_2 This one links to an AP story. I just want to keep all of the facts straight.

 

[PrayersForMaura]

June 09, 2006
If Kirkwood resident Charles "Cookie" Thornton is correct, Kirkwood City Council members could be hearing from him for a long time to come.

Thornton's contentious remarks over the years culminated in what Mayor Mike Swoboda called "one of the most embarrassing situations that I have experienced in my many years of public service.

"Because of his disruptive behavior, the Kirkwood Police Department had to forcibly remove him from the council chambers (on May 18)," Swoboda said at the June 1 meeting.


http://www.websterkirkwoodtimes.com...17_Thornton_Wont_Be_Banned_From_Meetings.html

 

[PrayersForMaura]

Maura Several places are reporting he was killed by the police. Are you sure he killed himself? http://www.nebraska.tv/Global/story.asp?S=7841198&nav=menu605_2 This one links to an AP story. I just want to keep all of the facts straight.

I am wrong! I will edit my post! Thanks

 

[PrayersForMaura]

NewsChannel 5 has confirmed, Mayor Swoboda was shot in the head and in surgery at this time at St. John's Mercy Medical Center. Another shooting victim is also being treated at St. John's for a gunshot wound to the hand.

http://www.ksdk.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=139898

 

[PrayersForMaura]

More: http://www.websterkirkwoodtimes.com...olice_Drag_Resident_From_Council_Meeting.html

 

[Spazkat9696]

1.Mayor Mike Swoboda
2.Public Works Director Kenneth Yost
3.council member Michael H.T. Lynch
4.council member Connie Karr
5.police officer outside building among the dead
6.Officer Tom Ballman inside the building among the dead
7.gunman Charles Lee "Cookie" Thornton killed by police

 

[PrayersForMaura]

Footnotes:
FN1. Plaintiff also filed a complaint under the Civil Rights Act in the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri, 04-0018-CV, on January 9, 2004.
FN2. Allen pled guilty to 18 counts of municipal ordinance violations in August 2001 relating to the activities and conditions at his property.
FN3. Altogether, Plaintiff has been charged with 114 violations of the City’s ordinances since March 1996, and he has pled guilty or been convicted of over 100 of them.
FN4. The charges against Plaintiff mostly arise from his unlawful operation of a construction business in the City, but he has also been convicted of various municipal ordinance violations, including assault and battery of Yost.
FN5. Plaintiff had originally retained an attorney, Irwin Roitman, to represent him, but the attorney withdrew as counsel for Plaintiff in December 2003 after Plaintiff filed documents with the court without the attorney’s knowledge or approval.
FN6. Plaintiff originally filed an appeal with the Missouri Supreme Court. The Supreme Court subsequently transferred the cause to this court. Plaintiff incorrectly argues in his jurisdictional statement that the circuit court judge ordered the invalidation of the federal statute 42 U.S.C. section 1983.
FN7. Plaintiff previously filed two briefs with this court. Both briefs were incomplete and failed to comply with the applicable rules of appellate procedure, and they were returned to him due to their failure to conform so that Plaintiff could file an amended brief.
FN8. Plaintiff’s jurisdictional statement contains numerous citations to case law and other legal authority, but his argument does not. In his argument, he relies on only one federal case and a few Missouri rules .

http://www.courts.mo.gov/Courts/Pub...aebbfbd50f3e650286256fee00466224?OpenDocument

 

[PrayersForMaura]

Gov. Matt Blunt tonight issued the following statement:

"Tonight our fellow Missourians in the city of Kirkwood were terrorized by a senseless and horrific crime at an open government meeting. We know at this hour that this crime has resulted in the loss of life and an investigation is under way.

http://www.ksdk.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=139905

 

[PrayersForMaura]

NewsChannel 5 has confirmed Mayor Swoboda was shot in the head. He was transported to St. John's Mercy Medical Center, where he underwent surgery. He is now in critical condition.
http://www.ksdk.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=139898&provider=top

 

[chiperoni]

Tnx Prayers for Maura for all the info and links. I think Caharles Thornton took everyone by surprise. He shot the policemen first because they were armed and they probably were same guys who dragged him out of other meetings when he was disruptive. He sounds like he had an over the top resentment about the expansion of the two businesses in kirkwood. My sympathy to the families who lost their loved ones and to the citizens of kirkwood. I'm sure there's going to be a huge reassessment of security. Unfortunately many cityhalls are security tight with armed guards and turnstiles. It's sad that this will include smaller towns as well.

 

[PrayersForMaura]

News 4February 7th, 2008
Gerald Thornton, the brother of the man who opened fire at the Kirkwood City Hall on Thursday evening says his brother "went to war tonight with the people, the government that was putting torment and strife into his life."
http://www.kmov.com/video/topvideo-index.html?nvid=215984

 

[PrayersForMaura]

The brother of the man who opened fire at the Kirkwood City Hall on Thursday evening tells News 4 that his brother was striking back at government officials that had been giving him trouble.

“The only way that I can put into context that you might understand is that my brother went to war tonight with the people, the government that was putting torment and strife into his life. He has spoke on it as best he could in the courts, and they denied all rights to the access of protection and he took it upon himself to go to war and end the issue,” Gerald Thornton said.

“I can’t change it. The thing that I can say is that he went to war with the people that were causing strife in his life and he ended it,” said Thornton.

Thornton leaves behind a wife and a daughter.

http://www.kmov.com/localnews/stories/kmov_localnews_080207_geraldthornton.9e51d0ab.html

 

[philamena]

St. louis County Police announced that six people are dead after a gunman opened fire at Kirkwood City Hall. Two Kirkwood police officers, three others and the gunman are dead.

What is going on in our world?
Prayers to all affected by this massacre.

 

[PrayersForMaura]

http://www.myfoxstl.com/myfox/pages...=18&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.2.1

 

[PrayersForMaura]

"He'd come to the meeting and he'd have a big easel and a picture of a donkey on there and call the council asses," McNichols said.

Sportscaster Doug Vaughn of Channel 4 said he went to Kirkwood High School with Thornton and has run into him through the years. He said Thornton's behavior changed after police cracked down on his parking of vehicles for his construction company outside his home in Meacham Park. He felt harassed, Vaughn said.

"He was more than a critic," Vaughn said. "It got to where he was showing up at every council meeting and trying to dominate everything. He kind of lost his mind."

Mike Prosperi, owner of the Imo's Pizza near City Hall and near where the first officer was killed, said everyone knew "Cookie." He said Thornton was known for his contentiousness at council meetings, but said there was another side.

"I'm just so shocked," Prosperi said. "He always had a smile on his face. He was always saying, 'God bless you. God bless you.' If he'd see you at the Sam's Club or the hardware store, he'd go out of his way to say hello."

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/ne...DF9F175C2F225844862573E9001BDB9A?OpenDocument

 

[PrayersForMaura]

Six people died and two were injured in the shootings at Kirkwood City Hall. Police have not released any names. The Post-Disptach has confirmed through officials and sources that the dead include: Councilmembers Connie Karr and Michael H.T. Lynch, Public Works Director Kenneth Yost, and police officers Tom Ballman and William Biggs. Mayor Mike Swoboda was injured. Police said the gunman, Charles Lee Thornton, also was killed.

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/ne...BDC575945A776060862573E9001BDBAE?OpenDocument