Cops: Man Kills Ex-Wife, Self In Mo. Mall

(AP)  A man recently divorced from his wife of more than 20 years shot and killed her inside a suburban St. Louis mall on Wednesday before committing suicide, police said.

No one else was injured but the Jamestown Mall in Florissant was evacuated.

The shooter was 49 and his ex-wife was 47, but their names had not been released, St. Louis County police spokeswoman Tracy Panus said. Panus said they both lived in the nearby suburb of Hazelwood and had been married more than 20 years with grown children before recently divorcing.

The motive for the shooting just outside the Sears store had not been determined, Panus said.

Marcus Gwynn said he heard four shots as he was walking into the mall to begin his shift at a Radio Shack store.

"I seen a lady on the ground face down, then he sits on the ground and shot himself in the head," said Gwynn, 21.

Deborah and Michael Mingo said they were shopping at Sears when they heard several shots. She said she asked a clerk about the noise and was told it was likely construction, but a short time later people in the store were telling them to get out.

Police tape was wrapped around the entrance to the food court near the scene of the shooting.

St. Louis County police Detective Mike Williams inspected a gray Ford Focus - the female victim's car - on the lot outside the Sears. Two of the tires were deflated, leading Williams to believe the shooter did not want the woman to flee.

Earlier, a distraught man told two reporters he and the victims were cousins. But police later said the victims were a recently divorced couple.

Calls seeking comment from officials of Sears and several other stores in that area of the mall were either unanswered or not returned.

A woman who answered phones in the mall office declined to comment.

Jamestown Mall is in far northern St. Louis County. It has about 60 stores and restaurants. It was not immediately clear when it would reopen.

[morganbarber]

Some fellas just won''t pay off an ex-wife''s department store credit card bills.

[newtagagain]

But they should all be this efficiently packaged.

Posted by barbaraf4

No Barb, they should all not happen!!!! This murder/suicide is so common here and so rare elsewhere that it''s known as the "American Divorce" abroad. Whether gun, knife, car or whatever weapon is used what is it about the US that convinces so many people that killing their partner is a viable option?

[gmond]

Shouldn''t have used the credit cards.

[barbaraf4]

As sad as this is, at least the gunman went into the mall with a target. He killed his ex-wife and then himself. Neat, tidy and no innocent bystanders killed or hurt as a reflection of his rage. Tragic? Yes. But they should all be this efficiently packaged.

[hbevis]

Then in November 1995 a car bomb explodes at a US military complex in Riyadh Saudi Arabia.

A few months later in June of 1996 , another truck bomb explodes only 35 yards from the US military compound in Dhahran , Saudi Arabia . It destroys the Khobar Towers , a Air Force barracks, killing 19, injuring over 500.

An attack on two US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania .. They kill 224.

The USS Cole was docked in the port of Aden, Yemen for refueling on 12 October 2000 , when a small craft pulled along side the ship and exploded killing 17 US Navy Sailors.

The events of 11 September 2001. Most Americans think this was the first attack against US soil or in America . How wrong they are. America has been under a constant attack since 1979.

In the news lately we have seen lots of finger pointing from every high officials in government over what they knew and what they didn''t know. But if you''ve read the papers and paid a little attention I think you can see exactly what they knew. You don''t have to be in the FBI or CIA or on the National Security Council to see the pattern that has been developing since 1979.

[hbevis]

In April 1985 a bomb explodes in a restaurant frequented by US soldiers in Madrid.

Then in August 1985 a load of explosives is driven into the main gate of the US Air Force Base at Rhein-Main, 22 are killed and the snooze alarm is buzzing louder and louder as US interests are continually attacked.

Fifty-nine days later in 1985 a cruise ship is hijacked and we watched as an American in a wheelchair is singled out and executed.

TWA Flight 840 in April of 1986 that killed 4 and the most tragic bombing, Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie , Scotland in 1988 , killing 259.

In January 1993 , two CIA agents are shot and killed as they enter CIA headquarters.

February 1993 , a van packed with explosives is driven into the parking garage of the World Trade Center. 6 dead and over 1000 are injured.

[hbevis]

I AM AFRAID THAT WE ARE GOING TO SEE MORE AND MORE THINGS LIKE THIS HAPPENING. PEOPLE LOSING JOBS RIGHT AND LEFT.

Look at what has happened in the last 25 years. A lot of people blame Bush for all of these things, but he was not around 25 years ago when all of this started. WAKE UP PEOPLE.

November 1979 Iranian students attacked and seized the American Embassy in Tehran.

April of 1983 a large vehicle with high explosives was driven into the US Embassy compound in Beirut When it explodes, it kills 63 people

Six months later in 1983 a large truck with over 2500 pounds of TNT smashed through the main gate of the US Marine Corps headquarters in Beirut and 241 US servicemen are killed.


Two months later in December 1983, another truck loaded with explosives is driven into the US Embassy in Kuwait , and America continues her slumber.

September 1984, another van was driven into the gate of the US Embassy in Beirut.

[fush2]

well thats sad..i dont understand why people have to be so violent...and people kill people not guns...the human has to pull the trigger...duh???

[lemonskink]

Guns don''t kill people, it''s the high-velocity round exiting the chamber.

[nssherlock1]

We need lots more guns. Why not let every 5 year old have a gun Posted by excoachken



The child won''t need a gun if you can teach him/her to throw a rock at 1250 fps.