Alabama: Gunman shoots 9 in south Alabama, then himself

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
A gunman killed at least nine people on a terrifying rampage across two Alabama counties, burning down his mother's home, killing members of his own family on their porch and shooting apparent strangers as he drove by, authorities said. He then fatally shot himself. Police were investigating shootings Tuesday in at least four different locations in three neighboring communities, all of which were believed to be the work of a single gunman named Michael McLendon. Investigators declined to comment on a motive for the shootings, in which at least four other people were injured, including a child. The afternoon of bloodshed began when McLendon burned down the house in Kinston where he lived with his mother, Lisa McLendon, according to Coffee County Coroner Robert Preachers. Officials located Lisa McLendon's body inside the house, but they had not been able to get inside the still-burning house to determine a cause of death or whether she was a 10th victim of her son's killing spree. He then headed about 12 miles (19 kilometers) southeast to Samson, in Geneva County, where he shot and killed five people - four adults and a child - at a home. He killed one person each in two other homes.