Man with grudge kills 10 in Alabama shooting spree

Michael McLendon killed his mother, grandmother, uncle, two cousins and five others
By Mark Wallheiser
Reuters News Service

U.S. authorities trying to piece together why a man killed 10 people in the worst rampage in Alabama's history focused on Wednesday on the grudges that he bore.

Michael McLendon killed his mother, grandmother, uncle, two cousins and five others including an 18-month-old girl in a spree on Tuesday that bore the hallmarks of a planned attack.
In his bedroom, authorities found three lists that included details on people he believed had wronged him. Though none of the people who died were on the lists, they provided clues to his state of mind.

"You kill the people you mean to kill, the worst first," said Gary McAliley, the district attorney in Coffee County, where the spree began.

"If you have an axe to grind you list the people you want to kill the worst," McAliley said, adding that the three lists did not represent a hit list but rather suggested McLendon bore grudges.

At the top of one of the lists, McLendon wrote of one grievance -- that someone at the job he had left the previous week had reported him for not wearing earplugs.

The 28-year-old gunman, who lived with his mother, was armed for the shooting spree with two military assault rifles, a handgun and a shotgun. More than 200 rounds were fired in the rampage, which started at a home in Kinston in southeastern Alabama.

Aside from family members, McLendon killed the wife of a local deputy sheriff and her 18-month-old daughter, who were visiting family members.

See: Man with grudge kills 10 in Alabama shooting spree