WORLD: Lone gunman kills eight at a North Carolina nursing home
Sunday morning around 10am, a lone gunman in a North Carolina nursing home (Pinelake Health and Rehab in the North Carolina Sandhills) went barging into rooms killing 8 people (7 residents and 1 patient) and injuring three. The gunman has been identified as 45 year old Robert Stewart who was injured and apprehended by police officers and sent to the hospital.
While authorities declined to comment on a possible motive, Stewart's ex-wife said he had been reaching out recently to family members, telling them he had cancer and was preparing for a long trip and to "go away." Sue Griffin said she was married to Stewart for 15 years, and while they hadn't spoken since divorcing in 2001, he had been trying to call her during the past week through her son, mother, sister and grandmother.
"He did have some violent tendencies from time to time," Griffin said. "I wouldn't put it past him. I hate to say it, but it is true."
Authorities said Stewart began his rampage around 10 a.m. at Pinelake Health and Rehab in the North Carolina Sandhills about 60 miles southwest of Raleigh, firing shots inside and outside the home. It ended when 25-year-old Officer Justin Garner traded gunfire with Stewart in a hallway, wounding the suspect. [Link]
Victims Identified
- Tessie Garner, 88
- Lillian Dunn, 89
- Jessie Musser, 88
- Bessie Hendrick, 78
- John Goldston, 78
- Margaret Johnson, 89
- Louise Decker, 98
- Nurse Jerry Avent
The victims do not seem very random, and seems like he was shooting some and sparing the others. The motive is still to be revealed/found.
newsfreak
WORLD:
Justin Garner: The hero who saved the day
Justin Garner, the 25 year old Carthage area cop, was the reason that the lone gunman could not cause any more deaths or injuries. Garner was the only one on duty with everyone else at the church. He entered the nursing home building without waiting for backup. His single shot at Robert Stewart, the gunman, hit him in the chest which was enough to stop him. The cop shot the gunman despite being himself shot thrice in his leg and foot.
The clean-cut outdoorsman with a passion for hunting and fishing raced to the Pinelake Health and Rehab Center. Armed with a .40-caliber Glock pistol, he entered the building to confront Robert Stewart, 45, in the hallway. Garner fired his weapon once, hitting Stewart in the chest, even though Garner had already been shot three times in his foot and leg.
A day later, Garner was being praised as a hero in this small town in North Carolina's Sandhills region, about 60 miles southwest of Raleigh, for forging into the nursing home without waiting for backup to stop a man authorities say shot and killed eight people — many of them elderly and frail — inside. [Link]
johnGilt
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