1 Killed, 8 Others Wounded In Tennessee Church Shooting

[cappie]

(CNN) -- One adult was killed and at least eight others wounded -- six of them seriously -- when a man opened fire during a children's play Sunday morning at a Unitarian church in Knoxville, Tennessee, police and church members said.

Police said a man walked into Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church's sanctuary and fired a 12-gauge shotgun about 10:15 a.m. Church members subdued him, and officers were questioning him Sunday afternoon, Police Chief Sterling Owen said.

Greg McKendry, a 60-year-old usher and board member at the church, was fatally shot, Owen said.

"We loved Greg McKendry. Please pray for this congregation, because we are grieving the loss of a wonderful man," the church's minister, Chris Buice, told reporters as he choked back tears.

Two of the wounded were treated and released, Owen said. Five of the others were in critical condition at the University of Tennessee Medical Center, just across the Tennessee River from the church, and a sixth was in serious condition, hospital spokeswoman Becky Thompson said. iReport.com: Are you there? Share photos, video, accounts

Investigators had not yet determined a motive for the shootings, Owen said.

"That's one thing we're obviously aggressively pursuing," he said.

The suspect's identity was not released, but Owen said he is believed to be a Knoxville resident. Investigators were checking whether he has a criminal history, and they had no information indicating he had been to the church before, Owen said.

The man opened fire during a children's production of the musical "Annie," church members said. About 200 people in the church were watching the production, which was being put on by 25 children, The Associated Press reported.

No child was shot, police said.

"We have a lot of scared, traumatized children and they just don't know what to think," said Steve Drevik, a church member who arrived after the shooting.

Drevik said people at the church didn't know the suspect.

Police said people were recording videos of the children's performance when the shooting happened, and investigators were collecting the videos. Information on what, if anything, the videos show of the shooting wasn't immediately available.

In a written statement, Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam said the city "suffered a tragedy" on Sunday.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims, their families, and the church community," he said.

Sunday's attack was the fourth time in 15 months that an American church became a scene of a fatal shooting.

[homeschoolmom]

[picchick]

why is this happening???

[CatherineM]

I just have this fear that more of this kind of thing is going to happen if the economy goes bad. Losing a job, home or marriage can trigger people to dive into depression and rage.

[homeschoolmom]

[quote name='CatherineM' post='1610138' date='Jul 27 2008, 07:07 PM']I just have this fear that more of this kind of thing is going to happen if the economy goes bad. Losing a job, home or marriage can trigger people to dive into depression and rage.[/quote]
Yeah, I've always (and by always I mean the last seven years or so) thought that churches are open targets for such attacks. Time to post the KoC at the entrances...

[BG45]

Sadly I'd not be surprised to find a Christian (or Christian walk-away) has carried out this attack. The UUs can be such whipping boys as it were, proclaimed as heathens by so many denominations. Some denominations indoctrinate with such hate...it just would not surprise me I am sad to say.

Praying for all involved, and also that I'm wrong.

[let_go_let_God]

A second victim has died. May the Lord grant all victims peace and comfort in this difficult time.

God bless-
LGLG

[Roamin Catholic]

yea, I'm kinda freaking out a bit.

I mean, there are people running around my city shooting up churches..That and I know some professors go there, and I'm sure some other students that I know also do..In fact one of the people who tackled the shooter was a history professor at my school.

I know the area really well that the church is located in. It's on a "church row" so to speak. It's a Jewish Synagogue, Lutheran, Baptist, Scientology, and this one, among a few others. Makes me wonder why this one? and why during the children's program? At least the man didn't get to take his own life so at least we can get a few answers, at least I hope I do.


I'm tired of watching this non-stop on the news, I finally had to turn it off. If anyone wants updated news on this, check out knoxnews.com it's the local newspaper....


God bless

James

[Roamin Catholic]

[quote name='cappie' post='1610116' date='Jul 27 2008, 05:38 PM']The suspect's identity was not released, but Owen said he is believed to be a Knoxville resident. Investigators were checking whether he has a criminal history, and they had no information indicating he had been to the church before, Owen said.[/quote]


He is a 58 year old man of a nearby town about 15 minutes away. The name has been released, but it doesn't feel right to post it..

[CatherineM]

We had an attack of sorts at the Unitarian church back home years ago. Not against people, but serious vandalism of the church. An older man's wife had left him for another woman, and the two women had a "marriage blessing" at the Unitarian church. He blamed God, or that church's minister, and went nuts with an axe.

When people have rugs pulled out from under them, they often blame God, and therefore take it out on the church.

[MissyP89]

What a mess our world is in...prayers for the lost and mourning.

[cappie]

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - A gunman opened fire at a church youth performance Sunday and killed two people, including a man who witnesses called a hero for shielding others from a shotgun blast.


The man slain was identified as Greg McKendry, 60, a longtime church member and usher. Church member Barbara Kemper told The Associated Press that McKendry "stood in the front of the gunman and took the blast to protect the rest of us."

Linda Kreager, 61, died at the University of Tennessee Medical Center a few hours after the shooting, Knoxville city spokesman Randall Kenner said.

Five people remained hospitalized, all in critical or serious condition. Two others were treated and released.

Kemper said the gunman shouted before he opened fire.

"It was hateful words. He was saying hateful things," she said, but refused to elaborate.

The FBI was assisting in the case in case it turns out be a hate crime, Police Chief Sterling Owen said. Police were taking statements from witnesses and collecting video cameras from church members who taped the performance.

There were about 200 people watching a performance by 25 children based on the musical "Annie" when the shooting took place.

Church member Mark Harmon said he was in the first row. "It had barely begun when there was an incredibly loud bang," he said.

Harmon said he thought the noise was part of the play, then he heard a second loud bang. As he dove for cover, he realized a woman behind him was bleeding. She looked like she was in shock, touching her wound, he said.

"It seems so unreal," Harmon said. "You're sitting in church, you're watching a children's performance of a play and suddenly you hear a bang."

Harmon said church members just behind him in the second and third rows were shot. His wife told him that she saw the gunman pull the shotgun out of a guitar case.

Witnesses reported hearing about three blasts from the .12-gauge shotgun, which spreads pellets out when the shot leaves the barrel. Witnesses said they did not recognize the gunman.

Church members said the gunman was tackled by John Bohstedt, who played "Daddy Warbucks" in the performance. He declined comment when reached by phone at his home.

Friends of McKendry said he was friendly with everyone.

"Greg McKendry was a very large gentlemen, one of those people you might describe as a refrigerator with a head," said member Schera Chadwick, whose husband, Ted Lollis, arrived at the church just after the shooting.

"He looked like a football player. He did obviously stand up and put himself in between the shooter and the congregation."

McKendry and his wife had recently taken in a foster child.

The church's minister was on vacation in western North Carolina at the time of the shooting but returned Sunday afternoon.

"We've been touched by a horrible act of violence. We are in a process of healing and we ask everyone for your prayers," the Rev. Chris Buice said in a statement outside the church. "I will tell you we love Greg McKendry. We are grieving the loss of a wonderful man."

[Archaeology cat]

[Roamin Catholic]

Knoxville, TN (source Knoxnews Sentinal)

The shotgun-wielding suspect in Sunday's mass shooting at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church was motivated by a hatred of "the liberal movement," and he planned to shoot until police shot him, Knoxville Police Chief Sterling P. Owen IV said this morning.

Jim D. Adkisson, 58, of Powell wrote a four-page letter in which he stated his "hatred of the liberal movement," Owen said. "Liberals in general, as well as gays."

Adkisson said he also was frustrated about not being able to obtain a job, Owen said.

The letter, recovered from Adkisson's black 2004 Ford Escape, which was parked in the church's parking lot at 2931 Kingston Pike, indicates he had been planning the shooting for about a week.

"He fully expected to be killed by the responding police," the police chief said.

Owen said Adkisson specifically targeted the church for its beliefs, rather than a particular member of the congregation.

The church's Web site states that it has worked for "desegregation, racial harmony, fair wages, women's rights and gay rights" since the 1950s. Current ministries involve emergency aid for the needy, school tutoring and support for the homeless, as well as a cafe that provides a gathering place for gay and lesbian high-schoolers.

Officers recovered 76 shells for a 12-gauge, semiautomatic shotgun inside the church. Among those shells were three spent rounds. He had carried the shotgun inside the church in a guitar case, Owen said.

"He certainly intended to take a lot of casualties," the chief said.

Adkisson is accused of killing two people and injuring seven others. He is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Greg McKendry, 60. Also killed in the shooting was Linda Kraeger, 61, who was visiting the church from Westside Unitarian Universalist Church.

Injured were Joe Barnhart, 76, and Jack Barnhart, 69, who are brothers; Betty Barnhart, 71; Linda Chavez, 41; John Worth Jr., 68; Tammy Sommers, 38; and Allison Lee, 42. Jack and Joe Barnhart are brothers, and Jack and Betty Barnhart are married.

The shooting began at 10:18 a.m. Adkisson was arrested minutes later after being restrained by church members.

Five of those wounded remain in critical or serious condition at the University of Tennessee Medical Center. Two others were treated at a local hospital and released. One of those suffered an injury when trampled as worshippers left the church.

The letter was not addressed to anyone but was signed by Adkisson, Owen said.

Adkisson's criminal history includes a DUI in Calfornia and in Clinton.

He had been a member of the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne, according to Owen.

Public Defender Mark Stephens' office has been appointed to represent Adkisson.

Through a spokeswoman this morning, Stephens said he could not comment.

If the suspect's own resume is accurate, Owen said, Adkisson worked in a variety of places across the country and most recently worked in Knoxville in 2006. The chief did not specify where Adkisson last held a job. Adkisson also holds an associates degree in mechanical engineering.

More than 200 people were packed into the church's sanctuary watching the children's musical, "Annie Jr." when a gunman opened fire.

McKendry, according to witnesses and police, confronted Adkisson, who shot him with a 12-gauge shotgun.

Witness Barbara Kemper said Adkisson walked past the area where children were awaiting their stage call and into the sanctuary.

Witnesses said Adkisson did not aim the shotgun at children but focused on the pews filled with adults. The first blast left many wondering if the disabling boom was part of the musical program.

"We heard the first shot," said Marty Murphy, 66, a church member since 2000. "It sounded like a bomb went off. We thought it was part of the program at first.

"The second shot is when everyone started calling 911 and telling everyone to get down."

Murphy and others said Adkisson didn't say a thing before he began firing. Kemper, however, said Adkisson was yelling "something hateful."

Witnesses said Adkisson had a fanny pack around his waist that contained extra shells for his shotgun.

"There were shotgun shells all over the place, so he must have thought he was going to get more shots in," Murphy said. "He had those shells everywhere.

"Who would have thought, here in Knoxville?" she said.

News Sentinel staff writers Bob Fowler, J.J. Stambaugh, Frank Munger and Amy McRary contributed to this story.

More details as they develop online and in Tuesday's News Sentinel.

[Graciela]

"The shotgun-wielding suspect in Sunday's mass shooting at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church was motivated by a hatred of "the liberal movement," and he planned to shoot until police shot him, Knoxville Police Chief Sterling P. Owen IV said this morning.

Jim D. Adkisson, 58, of Powell wrote a four-page letter in which he stated his "hatred of the liberal movement," Owen said. "Liberals in general, as well as gays.""


Am I the only one on Phatmass who sees a link between this kind of violence and the attitudes of the very comments found on the Phatsmass debate table thread about homosexuality and same sex attraction? When people dwell on "sodomy as a sin that cries out to God for vengeance" OR the catechism teaches that same sex love is intrinsically disordered OR people argue that based on anatomy this is "unnatural", it contributes to an environment in which those who agree with these points of view feel quite justified in going to shoot up a church like this UU church for its "liberal" policies and welcome of gay people.

You don't see incidents of liberals or people from churches that are inclusive of LGBT folks going into the local fundamentalist church and shooting them up....

I personally believe that if Jesus Christ had been incarnated in today's world rather than the Middle East 2000 years ago, he would be reaching out to those who are scapegoated by those in power in today's religious institutions (whether the RC church or the Assemblies of God or the Southern Baptists or Fred Phelps and his primitive baptist church). I especially see that scapegoating today towards the poor, the immigrants, and gay, lesbian folks who stigmatized and rejected by those who call themselves "religious" and "faithful".

Prayers for this UU church and its members, especially for their traumatized children. May this incident be a catalyst for self-examination of attitudes and teachings that contribute to hatred and violence.