3 Killed in Mo. Church Shooting
Pastor Dale Morgan
3 Killed in Mo. Church Shooting*
Monday August 13, 2007 1:16 AM
By MARCUS KABEL
Associated Press Writer
NEOSHO, Mo. (AP) - 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.
``This is a terrible tragedy which was made worse by the fact that it
happened in a peaceful place of faith and worship,'' Gov. Matt Blunt
said in a statement.
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.