Lost Lake Tribune March 14th Edition

WORLD NEWS Seventeen Year Old Murders Fifteen And Takes His Own Life. WINNENDEN, Germany Wednesday — A 17-year-old wielding a 9 mm pistol burst into classrooms at his former high school and gunned down students in a rampage that ended with 15 dead before he took his own life, authorities said. There was no immediate indication of motive, but the gunman's victims were primarily female: eight of nine students killed were girls, and all three teachers were women. Three men were killed later as the suspect, identified by police as Tim K., fled. "I heard two shots and then screaming," said a 15-year-old student who gave her name only as Betty. "At first I thought it was a joke, but then someone called 'Run, run!' and I saw students jumping out of the windows and took off running." The gunman — dressed in all black — took students in the first classroom completely by surprise, evidenced by the morbid scene that awaited the first officers to arrive, said regional police director Ralf Michelfelder. "Children were sitting at their tables, with pencils still in their hands, their heads fallen over on the table," he said. "Most of them had shots in their head — it must have all happened in seconds." The dark-haired teen, shown wearing glasses in pictures on German television, apparently took the weapon from his father's collection of 16 firearms along with a "multitude of ammunition," police said. His father was a member of the local gun club and kept the weapons locked away except for the pistol, which was kept in the bedroom. Police said the suspect was a German teen who was a below-average student, but managed to graduate last year. "He was lower than average, and he wasn't engaged in school events," Michelfelder said. A sister of the suspect attends the school. Police received an emergency call from the school at 9:33 a.m. The first officers responded about two minutes later, said Baden Wuerttemburg state interior minister Heribert Rech. They heard shots on the second floor and ran upstairs, catching a glimpse of the suspect on a staircase, Rech said. He fired a shot at the police and then fled, killing his last victims in the school — two teachers — on his way out, Rech said. "Our officers were very quick," Rech said. "Through the immediate police intervention they were able to prevent a further escalation of the crime." After fleeing the school, the suspect ran into downtown Winnenden, a town of 28,000, where he shot two people walking by a psychiatric clinic, killing one and wounding the other, police said. The gunman then hijacked a car and forced the driver to head south while threatening his life from the back seat, triggering a manhunt involving 700 police officers and four helicopters, according to Stuttgart prosecutors. The driver swerved off the road to avoid a police checkpoint and managed to escape, while the suspect fled from the car into an industrial area in the town of Wendlingen, about 24 miles (40 kilometers) from Winnenden. He entered a car dealership, where he shot and killed his final victims — a salesman and a man shopping for a car — and then went back outside, prosecutors said. He opened fire on police swarming the area, who shot back and hit the suspect, who fell wounded to the ground, Michelfelder said. But he got back up, reloaded his weapon, and fled down a dead-end street. Police found him there dead, having apparently shot himself in the head. Two police officers suffered serious, but not life-threatening, injuries. The death toll was close to that of Germany's worst school shooting. In the 2002 shooting, 19-year-old Robert Steinhaeuser shot and killed 12 teachers, a secretary, two students and a police officer before turning his gun on himself in the Gutenberg high school in Erfurt, in eastern Germany. German Chancellor Angel Merkel called the shooting "a horrific crime." "It is hard to put into words what happened today, but our sadness and sympathy goes out to the victims' families," Merkel said. The European Parliament, meeting in Strasbourg, France, stood in silence for a minute, to honor the victims. Information gained from http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,508630,00.html USA NEWS Illinois Pastor Killed, Two Others Injured by Church Intruder. Sunday- Maryville, IL- An Illinois pastor was shot and killed, and two parishioners injured after an unknown intruder opened fire during services at the First Baptist Church. The intruder walked down the church aisle and briefly spoke to the pastor before shooting during the 8:15 a.m service. Pastor Fred Winters used his Bible to shield himself from the first round of bullets being pumped at him. The gunman's .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol jammed after the fourth shot was fired. The suspect then started stabbing himself with a four-inch knife, said Ralph Timmins of the Illinois State Police. Timmins also said the gunman slashed two parishioners when they tried to subdue him. The newspaper reported late Sunday a source close to the case confirmed the gunman as Terry Joe Sedlacek, 27, who developed mental illness after Lyme disease attacked his brain. Pastor Winters was shot three times, and was pronounced dead at Anderson Hospital. The gunman and one stabbing victim, 39-year-old Terry Bullard, underwent surgery at St. Louis Univ. Hospital, spokeswoman Laura Keller said. Bullard was in serious condition, she said. The other victim, Keith Melton, was treated and released. Pastor Mark Jones, another pastor at First Baptist, said he did not recognize the gunman, who Jones saw briefly before he pulled his weapon. Jones then went into an adjacent room and did not see the shooting, though he heard a sound like miniature fire crackers. "We have no idea what this guy's motives were," Jones said outside the church. "We don't know if we'll ever know that." Police said there were about 150 people in the church at the time of the shooting. Linda Cunningham was sitting near the back of the church when the gunman walked up the aisle. She figured the man was confused about what time the service started because of daylight savings time. Cunningham, as well as others, didn't recognize the gunman. Some parishioners believe the gunman used church bulletins to conceal his weapon. The church has an average attendance of more than 1,200 and was officially organized in 1945, according to their Web site. For more information go to http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/F34B63CBC9D773D88625757300553A0A?OpenDocument Alabama Murderer Had a List of Enemies.- The gunman who went on a bloody rampage in rural Alabama that left 11 dead was keeping a list of those "who done him wrong," police said Wednesday. Michael McLendon, 28, who killed 10 people before taking his own life, had a target list that detectives found in his house in Kinston, Ala., according to Coffee County District Attorney Gary McAliley. Most of those mentioned were corporations, not people. McAliley said that Kelley's Foods in Elba, 25 miles from were the shooting occurred, and Reliable Metals in Samson were on the list. McLendon had previously worked at both. Kelley's Foods said Wednesday that he quit his job there last Wednesday. He was forced to resign from the metals plant in 2003, according to local officials. Also included was a Pilgrim's Pride plant near Enterprise where his mother worked. She was among the victims of her son's shooting spree, and the district attorney said she had recently been laid off from the plant. Detectives continued to try to piece together what caused McLendon to snap Tuesday night, going on a cross-county rampage and killing 10 people before committing suicide. It was the worst mass shooting in the state's history. Investigators declined to comment on a motive for the shootings, which only lasted about an hour but claimed ten lives. Samson Mayor Clay King said he had known McLendon all his life and could not say what sparked the massacre. "If you would have asked me two days ago if he was capable of this, I would have said certainly not," King said on NBC's "Today" show early Wednesday. McLendon, who lived with his mother, had once trained as a police officer in 2003, but didn't complete the requirements to join the force. The bloodshed — which spread across two counties near the Florida border and claimed 10 victims plus the McLendon — began about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday when McLendon burned down the house he lived in with his mother. Authorities found the charred remains of Lisa McLendon, 52, inside the home. Coffee County Sheriff Dave Sutton said McClendon put his mother on a couch, piled things on top of her and set her on fire. He said McClendon also shot four dogs at the house. McLendon then drove a dozen miles southeast to Samson, in Geneva County, where he gunned down six more victims, including four members of his family. They were identified as McLendon's uncle, James Alford White, 55; his cousin, Tracy Michelle Wise, 34; a second cousin, Dean James Wise, 15; and his grandmother, Virginia E. White, 74. Also killed on the porch were the wife and daughter of local sheriff's deputy Joshua Myers, Andrea Myers, 31, and Corinne Myers, 18 months. He then drove around the town shooting out his car window, killing three more people seemingly at random, authorities said. Those victims were identified as James Irvin Starling, 24; Sonja Smith, 43; and Bruce Wilson Malloy, 51. The rampage ended another 12 miles farther east in Geneva at the metals plant where the shooter worked until 2003. After a gun battle with police, McLendon killed himself. "He cleaned his family out," Coffee County Coroner Robert Preachers said. "We don't know what triggered it." "Apparently something just snapped," said Wynnton Melton, mayor of Geneva, Ala., where McLendon ended his spree. Once investigators got a look at the ammunition he was carrying, they feared the bloodshed could have been worse. "I'm convinced he went over there to kill more people. He was heavily armed," Sutton said. Kelley Foods said in a statement Wednesday that McLendon voluntarily left his position there a week ago. The company didn't specify what McLendon's job was at the plant in Elba, but said he was a "reliable team leader" who was well liked. Myers, the Geneva County sheriff's deputy who lost his wife and a toddler daughter when they were shot on the porch in Samson, told reporters Wednesday that he was trying to come to terms with the tragedy. "I don't understand why anything like this could happen," he said. "I cried so much yesterday, I don't have a tear left in me. I'm never going to be able to fully understand it." His 4-month-old daughter Ella survived the porch shootings and was undergoing surgery at a Florida hospital, Myers said. He has been told that she is stable. "Keep my baby girl in your prayers," he pleaded. "I don't know what else to say." Geneva County Sheriff Greg Ward said investigators have put a timeline together and are following up on tips that have been received. Information gained from http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,508507,00.html The State of Maine Nearing Passage of a Same-Sex Marriage Allowance Bill. AUGUSTA, ME (AP) - The author of a bill to legalize same-sex marriage in Maine says more than 60 legislators from both parties have signed on as co-sponsors.Democratic Sen. Dennis Damon of Trenton said those lining up in support of his bill include representatives from Maine's smallest towns and its largest cities.He said many legislators sought to have their names associated with the bill, prompting leadership to open it up to unlimited sponsorship. Normally, no more than 10 lawmakers can be listed as co-sponsors of a bill. The bill would make Maine the third state, after Massachusetts and Connecticut, to allow gay marriage. Maine law currently defines marriage as between one man and one woman. Information copied from:

http://www.sunjournal.com/story/307333-3/MaineNews/60_lawmakers_cosponsor_Maines_gay_marriage_bill/

The bill in full is on this link: http://www.mainelegislature.org/legis/bills/bills_124th/billtexts/SP038401.asp

MINNESOTA NEWS Senate Recount Trial Nearing End in Minnesota. They're done. Lawyers for Norm Coleman and Al Franken made their closing statements in the U.S. Senate recount trial this morning, finally putting the seven-week case in the hands of the judges. Coleman has proven "it's more likely than not" that rejected absentee ballots of 1,360 voters were legally cast and should be counted, his attorney said in his closing arguments. Coleman attorney Joe Friedberg counted the contention by Franken's attorneys that Coleman has failed to prove all elements necessary to have those ballots counted. Friedberg told judges that all that's needed is a preponderance of evidence -- not evidence beyond a reasonable doubt -- that disenfranchised voters met the court's standards for casting a legitimate ballot. The court recessed for the day shortly after noon, after hearing arguments from Friedberg and Franken attorney Kevin Hamilton. Now the case is in the hands of the three judge panel. Any decision can be appealed to the Minnesota Supreme Court. For more information go to: http://www.startribune.com/politics/state/41209822.html?page=3&c=y Editorial.