Gunman kills 8 in shooting spree

Police were yesterday looking into whether a gunman accused of killing eight people in a nursing home may have targeted the facility because his estranged wife worked there.

Police Chief Chris McKenzie said they were investigating whether what he called domestic issues may have been the motive for the rampage on Sunday in the town of Carthage.

Police said 45-year-old Robert Stewart barged into the Pinelake Health and Rehab nursing home on Sunday morning and started "shooting everything", going room to room in a terrifying rampage that killed seven residents - most in their late 80s - and a nurse who cared for them.

Authorities said Stewart also wounded three others, including the Carthage police officer who confronted him in the nursing home's hallway and stopped the brutal attack. Officials said the massacre could have been bloodier if the officer had not managed to subdue Stewart.

"He acted in nothing short of a heroic way, and but for his actions, we certainly could have had a worse tragedy," said Moore County District Attorney Maureen Krueger. "We had an officer, a well-trained officer, who performed his job the way he was supposed to and prevented this from getting even worse than it is now."

By late Sunday afternoon, Krueger had charged Stewart, of Moore County, with eight counts of first-degree murder and a single charge of felony assault of a law enforcement officer.

Authorities said they would release more information at a news conference later.

"I don't know if the emotion entirely has set in," said McKenzie, a Carthage native who said nothing in his nearly 20-year law enforcement career compared to Sunday's slaughter.

Authorities said Stewart's rampage ended when 25-year-old Officer Justin Garner traded gunfire with Stewart in a hallway, wounding the suspect.

"He just comes in and just starts shooting everything around," said Harris Blake, of Moore County, relating the story told by sheriff's officials.

AP

(China Daily 03/31/2009 page11)