Police Kill Man Who Shot 5 at La. Office
Pastor Dale Morgan
Police Kill Man Who Shot 5 at La. Office*
By DOUG SIMPSON,
Associated Press Writer AP
ALEXANDRIA, La. - Police shot to death a man who had shot five people in
a downtown law office and holed up in the building for hours, firing at
officers and holding two victims inside.
Police set off five explosions early Friday to blow holes in the rear of
the building. Repeated bursts of gunfire were heard, and Sgt. Ronnie
Besson said several minutes later the gunman had been killed.
There was no immediate word on whether the two gunshot victims inside
the building were alive. Mayor Jacques Roy said he would have no word on
them until he had a chance to speak to their families.
Two of the other victims escaped on their own and police rescued a third.
The shooter was identified by a neighbor and The (Alexandria) Town Talk
newspaper as John Ashley, a 63-year-old former city worker.
Before the deadly shooting, the gunman had repeatedly fought off
attempts to reach the victims and shot at a remote-controlled police
robot sent into the building, police said.
Police fired tear gas into the building and tried unsuccessfully to
reach the shooter on his cellular telephone and the office phone, Gatlin
said. A SWAT team had positioned itself behind an armored car in front
of the law firm.
The mayor said that in the final confrontation, the suspect shot at
officers until the end, though none were injured.
Police would not identify the shooter.
Town Talk reported that one man, bloodied and in boxer shorts, emerged
from the building after police arrived. The paper identified him as
attorney Camille Giordano and said he was taken to a hospital. A call to
a hospital spokeswoman was not immediately returned.
The Rapides Regional Medical Center identified the other victims as Sam
Giordano, an attorney, and Andrea Fletcher Price, the law firm's secretary.
Giordano, 49, was in serious condition, and Price, 27, was in fair
condition, said Courtney Michiels, a hospital spokeswoman.
The law office, converted from a one-story family home, is located near
the Rapides Parish Courthouse. Police cut electricity to the building
and closed off much of the downtown area of this central Louisiana city.
The shooting rampage astounded people who know Ashley.
"I've never heard him raise his voice. I never heard of him being
violent," said Charlie Gilmore, Ashley's neighbor and a local pastor.