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Gunman kills 2 monks, self ,uses AK-47
Josey1
Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
Gunman kills 2 monks, self at Missouri abbey
Copyright c 2002 AP Online
Abbey shooting suspect lived anonymous life
Search the archive for: Missouri
By KIA SHANT'E BREAUX, Associated Press
CONCEPTION, Mo. (June 10, 2002 11:37 p.m. EDT) - A man wielding two rifles opened fire in the hallways of a Roman Catholic abbey Monday, killing two monks and wounding two others before committing suicide in a chapel, authorities said.
Investigators said they were trying to establish a motive for the shootings at the Conception Abbey, a Benedictine monastery and seminary. A spokeswoman for the Kansas City-St. Joseph Diocese said it was not known if the shootings were related to the sex scandal in which priests around the country have been accused of molesting youngsters.
"We have no idea who this person is," said Rebecca Summers, diocese spokeswoman. "There appears to be no explanation as to why this happened."
The gunman was identified by the sheriff's office as 71-year-old Lloyd Robert Jeffress of Kearney, about 15 miles northeast of Kansas City. The man apparently opened fire at random in the halls around the business offices of the monastery, said the Rev. Gregory Polan, abbot of the abbey. Monks barred themselves in their rooms when they realized they were hearing gunfire.
Two monks were killed and two other monks were seriously wounded. Authorities later found the suspect with a gunshot wound to the head, slumped over in a pew in a chapel on the monastery grounds. Two weapons, a Chinese-made replica of the AK-47 and a sawed-off .22-caliber rifle, were found near the body.
The victims were identified as the Rev. Philip Schuster, 85, and Brother Damian Larson, 64. Schuster was a greeter at the monastery's front door; Larson worked as a groundskeeper. Polan said both had been at the abbey for more than 30 years.
The Rev. Kenneth Reichert, 68, an assistant to the abbot, was shot in the stomach and was in serious condition. The Rev. Norbert Schappler, 73, who was shot twice, was listed in stable condition. Schappler oversees the dining room and works as director at the printing house.
Minutes before the shooting, witnesses said the suspect had parked his car and carried two boxes inside the abbey. The man then walked into the basilica, put the boxes on the table and pulled out the weapons, according to Sgt. Sheldon Lyon of the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
Authorities said the man then went into the monastery in an adjacent building and walked down the hallways until he met Larson, whom he shot twice.
Reichert and Schappler were shot after they peeked out of their room to see what had happened. The gunman went into the room and shot Schappler again. Schappler dragged himself to a phone and called 911, Lyon said.
The gunman then retraced his original route, came across Schuster and shot him twice, at least once in the head.
Sheriff Ben Espey said officers had been sent to the gunman's home about 70 miles south of the abbey to look for clues. But as of Monday afternoon, no evidence was released.
Polan said he was shown the man driver's license but did not recognize him as an employee or as anyone with a connection to the abbey.
"There's a lot of shock and sadness," Polan said. "These were two monks whose lives have been lived here in a generous, gracious spirit."
The Conception Abbey is on a 30-acre setting about 90 miles north of Kansas City. No students or faculty were on campus because the seminary had ended its academic year in mid-May. The complex also has a large publishing house, which turns out religious greeting cards, calendars and books.
The seminary college is the biggest priestly training center in the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph. It lists a staff of 19 priests, eight brothers, one sister and six lay professors and has about 100 students.
Ronda Strueby, a supervisor in the packaging department of the abbey's printing house, said all employees were evacuated.
"One of the monks, Brother Jeremiah, said there's a man in the monastery with a gun, and we need everyone to evacuate," she said. "We were all told to go home."
He added: "There's a lot of helicopters and things around now. It's just not something you think about happening especially in a religious institution."
Bishop Raymond J. Boland issued a statement saying he has gotten few details of the shooting, and encouraged people to pray for the entire Conception community.
"We are also praying for the gunman whom, we have been led to believe, took his own life," Boland's statement said. "Whatever motivated him to orchestrate this carnage, we still know that he and his family need our prayers and our compassionate understanding."
Jeffress lived in a senior citizens housing complex in Kearney, Mo., where neighbors said he stayed alone and mostly kept to himself.
Don Miller described Jeffress as cordial and polite, and said he saw him going to his car Sunday evening.
"It was just like it always had been," Miller said. "He had a smile on his face and said, 'Hi, how are you?' And I said, 'Fine,' and that was really it."
http://www.nandotimes.com/nation/story/429506p-3435270c.html
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
Copyright c 2002 AP Online
Abbey shooting suspect lived anonymous life
Search the archive for: Missouri
By KIA SHANT'E BREAUX, Associated Press
CONCEPTION, Mo. (June 10, 2002 11:37 p.m. EDT) - A man wielding two rifles opened fire in the hallways of a Roman Catholic abbey Monday, killing two monks and wounding two others before committing suicide in a chapel, authorities said.
Investigators said they were trying to establish a motive for the shootings at the Conception Abbey, a Benedictine monastery and seminary. A spokeswoman for the Kansas City-St. Joseph Diocese said it was not known if the shootings were related to the sex scandal in which priests around the country have been accused of molesting youngsters.
"We have no idea who this person is," said Rebecca Summers, diocese spokeswoman. "There appears to be no explanation as to why this happened."
The gunman was identified by the sheriff's office as 71-year-old Lloyd Robert Jeffress of Kearney, about 15 miles northeast of Kansas City. The man apparently opened fire at random in the halls around the business offices of the monastery, said the Rev. Gregory Polan, abbot of the abbey. Monks barred themselves in their rooms when they realized they were hearing gunfire.
Two monks were killed and two other monks were seriously wounded. Authorities later found the suspect with a gunshot wound to the head, slumped over in a pew in a chapel on the monastery grounds. Two weapons, a Chinese-made replica of the AK-47 and a sawed-off .22-caliber rifle, were found near the body.
The victims were identified as the Rev. Philip Schuster, 85, and Brother Damian Larson, 64. Schuster was a greeter at the monastery's front door; Larson worked as a groundskeeper. Polan said both had been at the abbey for more than 30 years.
The Rev. Kenneth Reichert, 68, an assistant to the abbot, was shot in the stomach and was in serious condition. The Rev. Norbert Schappler, 73, who was shot twice, was listed in stable condition. Schappler oversees the dining room and works as director at the printing house.
Minutes before the shooting, witnesses said the suspect had parked his car and carried two boxes inside the abbey. The man then walked into the basilica, put the boxes on the table and pulled out the weapons, according to Sgt. Sheldon Lyon of the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
Authorities said the man then went into the monastery in an adjacent building and walked down the hallways until he met Larson, whom he shot twice.
Reichert and Schappler were shot after they peeked out of their room to see what had happened. The gunman went into the room and shot Schappler again. Schappler dragged himself to a phone and called 911, Lyon said.
The gunman then retraced his original route, came across Schuster and shot him twice, at least once in the head.
Sheriff Ben Espey said officers had been sent to the gunman's home about 70 miles south of the abbey to look for clues. But as of Monday afternoon, no evidence was released.
Polan said he was shown the man driver's license but did not recognize him as an employee or as anyone with a connection to the abbey.
"There's a lot of shock and sadness," Polan said. "These were two monks whose lives have been lived here in a generous, gracious spirit."
The Conception Abbey is on a 30-acre setting about 90 miles north of Kansas City. No students or faculty were on campus because the seminary had ended its academic year in mid-May. The complex also has a large publishing house, which turns out religious greeting cards, calendars and books.
The seminary college is the biggest priestly training center in the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph. It lists a staff of 19 priests, eight brothers, one sister and six lay professors and has about 100 students.
Ronda Strueby, a supervisor in the packaging department of the abbey's printing house, said all employees were evacuated.
"One of the monks, Brother Jeremiah, said there's a man in the monastery with a gun, and we need everyone to evacuate," she said. "We were all told to go home."
He added: "There's a lot of helicopters and things around now. It's just not something you think about happening especially in a religious institution."
Bishop Raymond J. Boland issued a statement saying he has gotten few details of the shooting, and encouraged people to pray for the entire Conception community.
"We are also praying for the gunman whom, we have been led to believe, took his own life," Boland's statement said. "Whatever motivated him to orchestrate this carnage, we still know that he and his family need our prayers and our compassionate understanding."
Jeffress lived in a senior citizens housing complex in Kearney, Mo., where neighbors said he stayed alone and mostly kept to himself.
Don Miller described Jeffress as cordial and polite, and said he saw him going to his car Sunday evening.
"It was just like it always had been," Miller said. "He had a smile on his face and said, 'Hi, how are you?' And I said, 'Fine,' and that was really it."
http://www.nandotimes.com/nation/story/429506p-3435270c.html
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878