Gunman kills five at US council
Gunman kills five people during local council meeting in Missouri town
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Friday, 08, Feb 2008 01:23
A lone gunman has killed five people after storming into a local council meeting in a St Louis suburb in the United States.
Missouri police later shot and killed the attacker, identified locally as 52-year-old Charles 'Cookie' Thornton, a contractor with a history of disrupting council meetings in Kirkwood.
Janet McNichols, a local reporter covering the meeting for the St Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper, said: "He kept saying something about 'shoot the mayor' and he just walked around shooting anybody he could."
Kirkwood mayor Mike Swoboda is said to be in a critical condition with gunshot wounds to the head.
Thornton is described as storming into the meeting at 19:00 local time (01:00 GMT), having already shot and killed one police officer in the car park outside.
He killed another police officer and three officials in the building before being later shot himself.
Speaking to reporters the gunman's brother Gerald Thornton said: "My brother went to war tonight with the people and government that were putting torment and strife into his life and he ended it. I'm OK with it."
State governor Matt Blunt has led mourning for the victims of last night's incident.
"I join Missourians tonight in praying for the victims, their families and friends, and everyone in the community of Kirkwood," Mr Blunt said.