Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

Man had history of conflict with council

|
|
 
  
Published: Feb. 8, 2008 at 5:24 PM

KIRKWOOD, Mo., Feb. 8 (UPI) -- The man police say went on a shooting spree during a council meeting in a St. Louis suburb had a history of conflict with city officials, it was reported.

Charles "Cookie" Thornton reportedly stormed into the Kirkwood City Hall Thursday, opened fire and killed five people before Kirkwood police officers shot and killed him. Police said Thornton brought a revolver to city hall, then took a handgun from the first victim, a police officer, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Friday.

The gunman left for his brother a note that read, "The Truth will win in the end." Gerald Thornton said he found the note after the rampage that left two police officers, three city officials and the gunman dead, the newspaper reported.

The dead were identified as police officers Tom Ballman and William Biggs; council members Connie Karr and Mike Lynch, and Public Works Director Kenneth Yost.

Kirkwood Mayor Mike Swoboda was shot and listed in serious condition Friday. Another victim, Suburban Journals newspaper reporter Todd Smith, was hospitalized with a gunshot wound to the hand.

Gerald Thornton told CNN his brother, an independent contractor, thought he was "ticketed unjustly" and fined for violating city ordinances.

Topics: Todd Smith
Recommended Stories
© 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
Notable deaths of 2012 Scripps National Spelling Bee AmfAR Cinema Against AIDS gala
Indianapolis 500 Presidential Medal of Freedom Memorial Day around the nation
Additional Top News Stories
1 of 27
Snigdha Nandipati of San Diego wins Finals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee
View Caption
Snigdha Nandipati of San Diego, California watches confetti rain down as she wins the two-day Scripps National Spelling Bee championship, May 31, 2012, in National Harbor, Maryland. Nandipati successfully spelled the word .* guetapens *, meaning to lure or ambush. UPI/Mike Theiler
fark
If your neighbors ask if you and your wife are into swapping and suggest having a swapping party...
It's a lie
The hot new baffling non sequitur: Marrying yourself, complete with vows and ceremony. Subby is...
Hutt robbery "cowardly." Oh, so I suppose hiring intergalactic bounty hunters is the paragon of...
Across America, more and more cities are trying to regulate garage sales. In other news, some people...
Bank robber caught hiding during a game of duct, duct, goose