Six Dead In Missouri City Council Shooting

Mayor Critically Injured; 2 Police Officers, 3 Council Members Killed; Shooter Left Suicide Note

(CBS/AP)  A gunman carrying a grudge against City Hall left a suicide note on his bed warning "The truth will come out in the end," before he went on a deadly shooting spree at a council meeting, his brother told The Associated Press Friday.

Arthur Thornton, 42, said in an interview at the family's home that he knew his brother was responsible for the killings when he read the one-line note shortly after word of the shootings was broadcast.

"It looks like my brother is going crazy, but he's just trying to get people's attention," Thornton said, explaining he believed the note reflected his brother's growing frustration with local leaders. Police have the note, he said.

After storming the meeting and killing five people Thursday night, Charles Lee "Cookie" Thornton was fatally shot by law enforcers. Friends and relatives said he had a long-standing feud with the city, and he had lost a federal free-speech lawsuit against the St. Louis suburb just 10 days earlier. At earlier meetings, he said he had received 150 tickets against his business.

The victims were identified Friday as Public Works Director Kenneth Yost, Officer Tom Ballman, Officer William Biggs and council members Michael H.T. Lynch and Connie Karr. Flowers and balloons were placed outside City Hall Friday in their honor.

The city's mayor, Mike Swoboda, was in critical condition at an intensive care unit, St. John's Mercy Medical Center spokeswoman Lynne Beck said. Another victim, Suburban Journals newspaper reporter Todd Smith, was in satisfactory condition, Beck said.

"This is such an incredible shock to all of us. It's a tragedy of untold magnitude," Tim Griffin, Kirkwood's deputy mayor, said at a news conference. "The business of the city will continue and we will recover but we will never be the same."

St. Louis County Police spokeswoman Tracy Panus on Friday would not discuss what security measures, if any, were in place at City Hall at the time of the shootings.

The meeting had just started when the shooter opened fire, said Janet McNichols, a reporter covering the meeting for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

The gunman killed Officer Biggs outside City Hall. CBS News correspondent Cynthia Bowers reports that Thronton then took the dead officer's gun and firing both weapons as he stormed the council chambers, killing a second officer, the two council members and the public works director. The mayor and a journalist were also injured in the barrage.

As Thornton fired at City Attorney John Hessel, Hessel tried to fight off the attacker by throwing chairs, McNichols said. The shooter then moved behind the desk where the council sits and fired more shots at council members.

"We crawled under the chairs and just laid there," McNichols told ABC's "Good Morning America." "We heard Cookie shooting, and then we heard some shouting, and the police, the Kirkwood police had heard what was going on, and they ran in, and they shot him."

Thornton was often a contentious presence at the council's meetings; he had twice been convicted of disorderly conduct for disrupting meetings in May 2006.

The city had ticketed Thornton's demolition and asphalt business, Cookco Construction, for parking his commercial vehicles in the neighborhood, said Ron Hodges, a friend who lives in the community. The tickets were "eating at him," Hodges said.

"He felt that as a black contractor he was being singled out," said Hodges, who is black. "I guess he thought mentally he had no more recourse. That's not an excuse."

Franklin McCallie, a retired Kirkwood High School principal who once attended Thornton's wedding, said his longtime friend once told him that the city would drop what had become thousands of dollars in fines if Thornton "would just follow the law."

"In our long talks, I begged him to do this," McCallie said in a statement e-mailed Friday to the AP. "But Cookie said it was a matter of principle with him and that he wanted to sue the city for millions of dollars."

McCallie called Thornton's deadly rampage "a brutal and inexcusable act, the act of a person who was not in his right mind when he did it."

The weekly Webster-Kirkwood Times quoted Swoboda as saying in June 2006 that Thornton's contentious remarks over the years created "one of the most embarrassing situations that I have experienced in my many years of public service."

The mayor's comments came during a meeting attended by Thornton two weeks after he was forcibly removed from the chambers. Swoboda had said the council considered banning Thornton from future meetings but decided against it.

In a federal lawsuit stemming from his arrests during two meetings just weeks apart, Thornton insisted that Kirkwood officials violated his constitutional rights to free speech by barring him from speaking at the meetings.

But a judge in St. Louis tossed out the lawsuit Jan. 28, writing that "any restrictions on Thornton's speech were reasonable, viewpoint neutral, and served important governmental interests."

Another brother, Gerald Thornton, said the legal setback may have been his brother's final straw. "He has (spoken) on it as best he could in the courts, and they denied all rights to the access of protection and he took it upon himself to go to war and end the issue," he said.

Prayer vigil is to be held Friday at noon at the Kirkwood United Methodist Church, reports CBS News affiliate KMOV-TV.

Kirkwood is about 20 miles southwest of downtown St. Louis. City Hall is in a quiet area filled with condominiums, eateries and shops, not far from a dance studio and train station.

In a neighborhood of modest, ranch-style homes, the gunman's house appears neatly landscaped with colorful mulch, the property's circle driveway lined by well-placed shrubs. There were two concrete sculptures of eagles on the front lawn, along with a large fountain.

Outside the house, a tattered U.S. flag flew at half-staff, not far from a handwritten sign reading simply, "RIP Cookie. Only God can judge you!!!!!"

[denn034]

Condolences to all concerned.

[libertystl]

Ken Yost is a friend. I pray he''s okay

[iceman_1960]

This is getting nuts.

Does this happen every few weeks in England ?

No. In Great Britain strict gun laws are uniformly enforced throughout the country.

We need to do that in America.

[otdky07]

I''ve heard a lot of things in my life, but I''ve never heard of any part of St. Louis being referred to as "Mayberry."

[iceman_1960]

My idea (I think it"s an original idea) is to require at least a respectable credit history before anyone can legally own a gun.

That would immediately eliminate a whole lot of irresponsible, impulsive, substance abusing people from legally wielding loaded guns.

And enforce that in every square mile of the country.

[iceman_1960]

"...require at least a respectable credit history before anyone can legally own a gun. "

I"ll lay odds Charles Lee "Cookie" Thornton didn"t have a good one.

[otdky07]

I certainly won''t go against that bet.He probably went to the town meeting straight from working in his meth lab.

[sharncedar]

They are going to want to ban guns. The rich and the powerful really hate and fear not "Islam" or "terrorism" but us, the Americans. The people that they screewed over, cheated, lied to. They can barely sleep in their guilty, filthy beds.

Oh boy, do they want to ban guns here in America. Look for a big push with Hillary as president, disarming the people that they hate and fear, namely we the people, is a huge agenda item for the wealthy.

[otdky07]

I bet the executives at CBS eat dollar bills and *** out blue donkeys.

[ubrew12]

SharnCedar said: "They are going to want to ban guns."
You know. Your case would be alot easier to make if gun-owners didn''t go ''Rambo'' every few weeks.

This guy owned a gun, obviously.

He cracked and now 6 people are dead.

Solve that problem, and maybe the ''rich and powerful'' will quit wanting to take away ''your guns''. Maybe it actually has less to do with them being rich and powerful, and more to do with gun-owners going AWOL with tragic consequences every few weeks.

[rheola-2009]

Another day, another slaughter, how much longer is this stupidity of protecting th pockets of that murderous NRA, and the weapons manufacturers going to continue.

How many innocent persons are to die before the U,S, comes to its senses, and introduces some form of gun control.

Go for it Gunownerdan and Klingon, come out with your usual pathetic reasoning, e,g guns do not kill !!!!!
What a ridiculous statement, without a guin there is no shooter.

[getovrurself]

ingo-nito and otdky07,

Go to hell. I live in St. Louis, though not in the suburb of Kirkwood where the shooting occurred tonight. It takes a pathetic *** to make light of a tragedy that took six lives already and is likely to take at least one more. It could have happened anywhere %u2014 The World Trade Center, a Texas clock tower, down the street from you or your own damned house.

Kirkwood is as fine a town as yours, and just as immune from nutjobs as the town where your neighbors put up with you.

Two officers are down, three other people lay dead, the mayor is in critical condition with a headshot wound and another is hospitalized in unknown condition. If you can''t get a life, respect those who gave theirs.

[getovrurself]

ingo-nito and otdky07,

Go to hell. I live in St. Louis, though not in the suburb of Kirkwood where the shooting occurred tonight. It takes a pathetic *** to make light of a tragedy that took six lives already and is likely to take at least one more. It could have happened anywhere %u2014 The World Trade Center, a Texas clock tower, down the street from you or your own damned house.

Kirkwood is as fine a town as yours, and just as immune from nutjobs as the town where your neighbors put up with you.

Two officers are down, three other people lay dead, the mayor is in critical condition with a headshot wound and another is hospitalized in unknown condition. If you can''t get a life, respect those who gave theirs.

[getovrurself]

ingo-nito and otdky07,

Go to hell. I live in St. Louis, though not in the suburb of Kirkwood where the shooting occurred tonight. It takes a pathetic *** to make light of a tragedy that took six lives already and is likely to take at least one more. It could have happened anywhere %u2014 The World Trade Center, a Texas clock tower, down the street from you or your own damned house.

Kirkwood is as fine a town as yours, and just as immune from nutjobs as the town where your neighbors put up with you.

Two officers are down, three other people lay dead, the mayor is in critical condition with a headshot wound and another is hospitalized in unknown condition. If you can''t get a life, respect those who gave theirs.

[getovrurself]

ingo-nito and otdky07,

Go to hell. I live in St. Louis, though not in the suburb of Kirkwood where the shooting occurred tonight. It takes a pathetic *** to make light of a tragedy that took six lives already and is likely to take at least one more. It could have happened anywhere %u2014 The World Trade Center, a Texas clock tower, down the street from you or your own damned house.

Kirkwood is as fine a town as yours, and just as immune from nutjobs as the town where your neighbors put up with you.

Two officers are down, three other people lay dead, the mayor is in critical condition with a headshot wound and another is hospitalized in unknown condition. If you can''t get a life, respect those who gave theirs.

[getovrurself]

ingo-nito and otdky07,

Go to hell. I live in St. Louis, though not in the suburb of Kirkwood where the shooting occurred tonight. It takes a pathetic *** to make light of a tragedy that took six lives already and is likely to take at least one more. It could have happened anywhere %u2014 The World Trade Center, a Texas clock tower, down the street from you or your own damned house.

Kirkwood is as fine a town as yours, and just as immune from nutjobs as the town where your neighbors put up with you.

Two officers are down, three other people lay dead, the mayor is in critical condition with a headshot wound and another is hospitalized in unknown condition. If you can''t get a life, respect those who gave theirs.

[youngbrammer]

This is a ton of bull. This man very much was against city hall because his land was not well kept up so he received fines. He has been removed from meetings. Sued Kirkwood for freedom of speech. The FBI has received letters saying that violence would happen at Kirkwood City Hall. This man has sent items many weeks to the Kirkwood-Webster Times. Kirkwood had an idea that he would come so they added extra cops.

[tbweb]

The Ballot Box is the way to effect change, remove those who are not doing their job well or serving the Voters well. Speeding up the process with bullets is not the American way. My prayers go out to those who lost out to this impatient sicko.

[youngbrammer]

This is a ton of bull. This man very much was against city hall because his land was not well kept up so he received fines. He had a construction business. He has been removed from meetings. Sued Kirkwood for freedom of speech. The FBI has received letters saying that violence would happen at Kirkwood City Hall. This man has sent items many weeks to the Kirkwood-Webster Times. Kirkwood had an idea that he would come so they added extra cops. Plus Kirkwood about 10 years ago incorporated Meacham Park, ever since crime has went down. It had a higher crime rate East St. Louis. That means massive crime rate.

[youngbrammer]

Plus this as nothing to do with the sentencing of the murder of a Kirkwood Srg. back in 2005 ( The first cop in Kirkwood to be killed since Kirkwood was founded 1853)

[edward1975-2009]

rheola: Without a citizens right to protect him or herself the problem becomes a slaughter of mass purportion. Criminals will have not a thing to fear when breaking in your home. Law abiding people will be at the mercy of criminals. Under your theory we should ban cars, for without cars, what would drunk drivers be driving? And ban planes, they sometimes lose parts that fall through peoples roofs and kill them. Make it tougher for someone to own one, we don''t need gun control, we need gun responsibility.

[bookout2]

Gun control wouldn''t stop the slaughter, but, it
would sure slow it down.

[getovrurself]

Actually, it might be better if both sides of the gun debate waited until you found out how Thornton got his gun and if he was lawfully entitled to carry it. Then you can approach the questions at the center of your circus. Until then, how about 5 minutes of silence on this board for the five killed by the shooter?

[jettskiman]

If that city attorney would have been throwing bullets from his own gun instead of chairs there would have been less people dead in that meeting.

[duffyn]

Yes, we need gun responsibility? Something is very wrong in THIS country. Other countries have guns, violent movies, etc and they will have like 300 murders. There is a sick desparation here. Resorting to a gun is the last resort and NEVER solves your problems. There is some kind of sickness here and I can''t identify it.

[bookout2]

And the gun owner floodgate squealing is opened.

[youngbrammer]

Why would he have a gun. Almost never need every in the god d**m history of Kirkwood!!!

[rowdytexan2]

Sincere condolences to these families and prayers going up for those still fighting for their lives.

[rheola-2009]

If that city attorney would have been throwing bullets from his own gun instead of chairs there would have been less people dead in that meeting.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by Jettskiman at 11:41 PM : Feb 07, 2008


Most likely a lot more.

[edward1975-2009]

You want to curb violence with guns in this country. Stiffen the penalties for offenders, no matter of age. You use a gun in a crime, you go away for life without parole. If your a gun owner and your gun gets "stolen" and you don''t report it and it''s used in a crime, your an accessory to that crime. And make a person who wants to own a gun go through a gun safety class before being able to purchase a gun. If a person has to go through a water safety course to put a boat in most states waterways, then maybe someone who is buying something that can change your life in a blink of an eye should do the same.

[otdky07]

getovrurself

I''m sorry for my comments. I have never thought I was going to die more than when I accidentally got off the wrong exit and ended up in a very, very bad part of East St. Louis.I was reliving that moment when I made the "Mayberry" comment.

[owlhead111]

Gun control yeah right! are you an idiot? read the constitution Rheola are you communist? I am sick of people blaming this on guns, it is the person not the gun, the guns are made for sport and protection and we have a few lunatics use it improperly and you activists go ape **** yes this was a tragedy but think of this? all the crime and tragedy that goes on in this country is the price you pay for freedom, and if you cant see that then you are more narrow minded then I recently thought. If we keep elimnating privledges and modifying our fore fathers guide lines and making more laws added on to the over 900,000 thats all ready on the books! then we might as well revert to "communism or monarchy" because that is what it will end up being!!!!!!! part 1

[owlhead111]

If you take the amount of guns in circulation just in this country compared to the amount of crimes with guns the percentage is so low you can barely detect it. so yes while traggic when these things occur there are 96 percent of gun owners that use them properly, and the last time I checked this is a democracy so when the percentage of gun related crimes surpass the ones that use it properly then we can talk about gun control? I just love those activists they write this *** while sippin on a wine cooler and smoking a camel but they turn around and spout nonsense like this when they are sitting back slowely killing them selves! which is all fine because is''nt it wonderful to live in a country where we have the freedom to do these things, so why dont we keep it that way just a while longer?

[getovrurself]

otdky07,
East St. Louis, which has its fair share of urban decay, lies on the other side of the Mississippi River. Kirkwood lies some 20 miles to the river''s west, where street medians are planted with flowers, the garbage is picked up and mass murders still shock and outrage people.

[youngbrammer]

Kirkwood should have not ever incorporated Meacham Park.

[duffyn]

We had 11,000 gun murders just a few years ago. I think maybe there is more murder by gun in Russia or geez, look at Darfur. I hate to think of what our rate will be this year. I think it is a societal thing and unfortunately there is a sickness here. For god sakes these shooting rampages solve absolutely nothing!! It makes everything worse. It''s an insanity! What do these people think they are going to accomplish???

[otdky07]

getovrurself

I admit my ignornace on this one.

[duffyn]

Well, I firmly believe it is not the guns. Canada has millions of guns - although you cannot have a handgun. They had 68 gun murders. No, this is a mind sickness. And then as if the mind knows it, look at some of these gun rampages, they turn around and shoot themselves! Boy it would take some master Dr of neurons to figure these guys out!!!!

[getovrurself]

Want to talk about gun rights and gun control? Fine.

"A well regulated militia..." the 2nd Amendment begins. Since the principle of judicial review was established in Marbury vs Madison (1804), the Supreme Court has ruled repeatedly that the right to private gun ownership, while it may be inferred from the Amendment%u2019s awkward language, is no more absolute than the right to yell "Fire!" in a crowded theater. Governments has a duty to balance this right against the more fundamental responsibility to protect citizens.

How does this apply here?

1. Thornton may or not have obtained his gun legally. He may have purchased it, borrowed it or stolen it.

2. Thornton repeatedly demonstrated mental instability by his outbursts that resulted in his removal from council chambers; his filing of frivolous lawsuits; and his threats to do bodily harm.

3. He killed at least five and injured several others tonight with a firearm.

Conclusion: At the very least, the state has an interest in preventing crazies from obtaining weapons. This means some form of gun control. Whether the controls were adequate is doubtful, given the outcome.

Most gun owners safely possess and use their guns. Those who do not wreak havoc on lives and whole communities. The balance must be on the side of preserving life. And if that means you NRA-holes have to go through a background check or waiting period, or if you experience inconvenience because you can''t obtain an Uzi or Howitzer...

then tough s__t.

[mrbrill]

owlhead obviously has some issues he needs to work out. Obviously I would not want to be near him during one of his rants, especially if he has possession of a gun. It''s amazing to me for people think that owning guns is some type of God-given right. I am sure if our founding fathers would see the shape we are in today, they would say "Are you guys crazy? We only meant it as a way to protect our country from foreign invasion." Comparing someone who''d like to see controls over who has guns to a Communist shows the type of logic that goes on in this person''s head, as there are many democratic countries (not Commnunist) which don''t allow possessions of handguns and saying that you have to have a majority of hand owners who are unlawful with their use of guns before anything should be done... You might as well use the same logic for owning nuclear weapons. I''m sure if we allowed nuclear weapon ownership, most people would be law-biding. Does this mean I think it''s ok for people to own nuclear weapons? I mean, hey, nuclear weapons don''t kill people, people do.

[ubrew12]

getovrurself said: "if that means you NRA-holes have to go through a background check or waiting period, or if you experience inconvenience because you can''''t obtain an Uzi or Howitzer...

then tough s__t. "

Well said.

[jmdenali]

I do not support muslim extremism.... But do you really think that Islam is America''s biggest threat? As I look at this nation''s moral compass, I believe that, like the Roman empire, it will colapse form within!

[rheola-2009]

Posted by mrbrill at 12:29 AM : Feb 08, 2008

I did not respond to Owlhead, as he obviously has a problem.

If you do not have an acceptable argument, then what do you do, of course you resort to abuse or name calling.

I feel he may not be a very knowledgeable person.

[taylpatr]

It sounds like they had plenty of warning that this guy was a nut. If he really had a legitimate greivience with the mayor, though, we will never know because you media people won''t give credibility to anyone labled wrong. That''s because you''re owned by republican sympathizers and they tell you what to print. One day soon, though, you''re going to learn a new word. That word is COLLABERATOR. It will replace neocon as our next new vouge term. I can''t wait!

[getovrurself]

taylpatr,

Why is it that certain news stories bring twisted souls like you out of the woodwork?

There is no "legitimate" reason to shoot seven people, murdering five. Whatever Thornton''s perceived grievance, it was rejected by a court that considered his complaint. That isn''t media spin. It''s fact. Just as the six body bags sealed in Kirkwood tonight are fact.

Sympathize with Thornton''s grievance if you must. My sympathy is with the families grieving tonight.

[gmond]

Anytime anyone refers to their town as Mayberry, one can bet it is overrun by all Barneys and no Andys.

[mia_stl]

I held my mom''s hand tonight as she learned of her good friend''s senseless and brutal death in this tragedy. There are real people suffering from this tragedy. Please let people grieve with dignity and save the anger for later. There is a time to ask "how can we stop these increasingly frequent attacks?". There is a time for anger. That time is not yet.

[getovrurself]

gmond,

Your comedy is exceeded only by the smugness with which you belittle a pleasant little community as devastated as you would be if someone had shot your family.

[getovrurself]

mia_stl,

I am grieving with you. And if I am, millions more are, as well.

Please hear this woman''s plea and respect it. I''m signing off in total agreement.

[mia_stl]

Thank you for your support. Our community has just suffered a great loss.

No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted. - Aesop