 Massacre ... a man is reflected in a storefront window that was shot during the shooting spree in Samson, Alabama / AP |
A GUNMAN who killed at least 10 people in southern Alabama began his murder spree by burning down his mother`s house where her body was later found.
Officials have not been able to enter the house outside Kinston, near the Alabama-Florida border, to determine if she was shot, the Associated Press reported.
After burning down the house, the gunman then headed east, into Geneva County, where he shot and killed five people - four adults and a child - at a home in the town of Samson.
Then he killed one person each in two other homes, a person at a Samson supply store and a woman at a service station.
Coffee County Coroner Robert Preachers said many of the victims included members of the shooter`s family.
"He started in his mother`s house,`` Mr Preachers said.
"Then he went to Samson and he killed his granny and granddaddy and aunt and uncle.
"We don`t know what triggered it."
Mr Preachers said the grandfather had raised the gunmen. Officials did not have a motive.
State Senator Harri Anne Smith said some of those killed in Samson were sitting outside.
"He was just driving down the street shooting at people sitting on their porches," she said.
"A family was just sitting on the porch and they were shot."Police pursued the gunman to Reliable Metal Products just north of Geneva, about 19km southeast of Samson, where he fired about 30 rounds from a semiautomatic weapon, the Alabama Safety Department said.
One of the bullets hit Geneva Police Chief Frankie Lindsey, who was saved by his bullet proof vest.
The gunman, who worked at the metal products plant, then went inside and shot himself.
Samson Mayor Clay King said he knew the gunman but would not identify him.
"What I`m focusing on is people here in the town, making sure they feel comfortable,`` Mr King said.
"I`ve lived here 44 years and never, never dreamed of this happening."
Geneva Mayor Wynnton Melton told The Dothan Eagle that the gunmen was "shooting anybody he saw".
Samson resident Alina Knowles told the Eagle she had witnessed the horrific scene.
“You see what I saw. I went to get the baby (who lived there). There was blood all over that porch. The baby was covered in her mother’s blood,” she said.
Geneva`s population is about 4400 and Samson, 2000.
