Free Republic

KIRKWOOD, Mo. - Six weeks after a deadly shooting rampage rife with racial overtones in Kirkwood's City Council chambers, the issue of race has spilled over into the contest for mayor of this St. Louis suburb and produced a uniquely tense campaign. A community activist, Michael Moore, is running as the sole black candidate in the four-way contest and has portrayed the Feb. 7 rampage as a symptom of smoldering black resentment in Kirkwood. At a recent standing-room-only candidate forum, the 37-year-old truck mechanic let voters know he wants to overhaul a city government that he says ignores poor, black...

In an emotional meeting of the Meacham Park Neighborhood Association this afternoon, a common theme was racial divide. People spoke angrily about it, cried about it and prayed to close it. Many also spoke sympathetically of Charles "Cookie" Thornton, the man who murdered five at the Kirkwood City Hall Thursday night before police gunned him down. One man called Thornton a "hero." About 100 people jammed the two-hour emergency meeting in the former J. Milton Turner school, an 84-year-old building that was renovated into a community center. Roughly one third of those present were white. Annie Bell Thornton, the killer’s...

Six people, including two Kirkwood Police Officers were shot and killed Thursday night when a lone gunman walked into a city council planning meeting and started shooting. The six dead include the gunman. The Mayor of Kirkwood Mayor Mike Swoboda, two city councilmen, and the Public works director were reported wounded. All had been taken to a local hospital. Police were able to return fire. The gunman, identified as Charles Lee Thornton, was also killed. Sources said Thornton was well known to police and city officials. He had disrupted city meetings several times in the past, and had been escorted...

The shooting occurred in the St. Louis suburb of Kirkwood.

Questions, rumors and fears spread through a Kirkwood neighborhood today after a police sergeant was shot and killed by a gunman. Authorities continued their search today for a suspect identified by police as Kevin Johnson, also known as Kevin Tatum, 19, whose last known address was in the 400 block of Saratoga Street in Kirkwood. A white Ford Explorer that police believe was used by Johnson Tuesday night was found today in Ferguson. Other sightings of Johnson throughout St. Louis County were also reported.