SAMSON – A gunman who left nine bodies scattered across two counties burned down his mother’s home with her still inside, killed four relatives on a porch and then targeted strangers before killing himself, authorities said.
Tuesday’s shootings in a mostly rural area near the Florida border were believed to be the work of Michael McLendon, who lived with his mother and had once worked at a local metal plant.The bloodshed began when McLendon burned down his mother’s house in Kinston, Coffee County Coroner Robert Preachers said. Authorities found Lisa McLendon’s body inside, but they have not determined how she died or whether she was a 10th victim of her son’s spree.McLendon then drove a dozen miles southeast to Samson, in Geneva County, where he took down nine victims, including four members of his family. The rampage ended another 12 miles farther east in Geneva at the metals plant where McLendon had once worked. After a shootout with police, McLendon killed himself.Investigators declined to comment on a motive for the shootings, in which at least four other people were injured, including a child. The victims’ names have not been released.’He cleaned his family out,’ Preachers said. ‘We don’t know what triggered it.’Five people were killed on the porch in Samson, along with a 74-year-old woman next door, said Kirke Adams, district attorney for Geneva and Dale counties. Four of the six killed were related to McLendon.Preachers had said McLendon’s victims included his grandparents. But Adams said the 74-year-old victim might have been McLendon’s great aunt.The two unrelated victims on the porch were the wife and 18-month-old child of a Geneva County sheriff’s deputy. They had stopped by the home to visit.McLendon then drove around Samson, shooting out his car window, killing three more people seemingly at random.’He sprayed bullets through the town,’ Adams said.One woman was struck down as she walked out of a gas station. Another man was driving. Another man was shot as he tried to run away.’In a cowardly act, he shot him in the back,’ Adams said. – Nampa-AP
