Posted on 05/23/2006 5:18:58 PM PDT by decimon
COVINGTON, Ga. - A man ran over three young children and two women with a car in the parking lot of a McDonald's restaurant Tuesday, police said, and one witness described him as having a smile on his face.
Lanny Barnes, 46, was in custody and charges against him were pending.
"All indications are that he intentionally hit them," Assistant Police Chief Almond Turner said.
A 2-year-old girl was in critical condition and two boys, ages 3 and 4, were in stable condition, Police Chief Stacey Cotton said.
The women, ages 33 and 36, are sisters and the mothers of the children, authorities said. Both were also in stable condition.
The children were airlifted to an Atlanta hospital, about 30 miles away, and the women were in a hospital in Covington, authorities said. They were hit by a Honda Accord.
Barnes' mother, Mary, told The Associated Press her son has battled mental illness.
"He's been suffering with depression for years," she said, her voice shaking after being told by a reporter what happened. "Lord have mercy."
Witnesses described the car running over a curb as the victims left the restaurant, then hitting them and the building before backing up and hitting them again, police said.
Ryan Boldman-Snyder, 20, an employee at the McDonald's, was on a break outside when he heard screaming, and said Barnes was "smiling the whole time."
Witnesses tried to pull Barnes out of his car in the restaurant parking lot. Police officers finally pulled him out of the car from the passenger-side front door, Boldman-Snyder said.
McDonald's area franchise manager Bill Hall said the company was deeply saddened.
"Our prayers are with the victims, the children, and their families," Hall said. "We are cooperating fully with the authorities as they investigate."
Hall said that the restaurant, about 30 miles southeast of Atlanta, would remain closed for the rest of the day and that counseling was being provided for employees.
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Associated Press Writer Harry R. Weber contributed to this report from Atlanta.
Our ABC radio news said, on the hour, that the 2 year old girl had died.
In my mind, he just earned a life sentence as a ward of the state. He has no business on the street.
While depression is a mental illness, I don't think a depressive would be smiling and running over children.
My somewhat educated guess would be an undiagnosed bipolar.
A bad case is capable of such things.
Let's hope the depression has just begun.
He should be mangled to death
Or supersized with an air hose.
Depression is an internal disease, when you start lashing out your depression to hurt innocent people you are a threat to society.
Awful.
Prayers for that poor family. A family just out enjoying their lunch and some maniac destroys their lives.
How awful. Prayers for her family. What a terrible story.
susie
Depression or not, this mutt needs to be put down.
What evil lurks in the heart of this man?
Only the SHADOW knows ???
Sounds like an exorcism is in order.
Notice how the childrens dads go unmentioned?
If it was my child, the perp. would not have to be hauled out of the car, he would have to be bagged out of it.
Twenty minutes and a baseball bat, that's all I ask.
Ward of the state? We know exactly what he did and are certain that he did it. It will be a travesty if he is still alive 30 days from now.
Witnesses should have pulled him out of the car and strung him up to the Golden Arches.
Of course he cant be executed because he is crazy.
Thats BS you deliberately kill you die. Crazy or not.
"... 3 Are Tots..."
Sometimes it pays to do a little reworking of the title. There is a joke in there but I'm not going to make it. This is a serious incident.
Solve the homeless problem, make the streets safer for law abiding citizens, lock up those that have substance abuse and mental problems..
The only reason I wrote that was because what his mama had said about him being mentally ill. He's nuts.
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