Posted on 07/03/2003 4:10:39 PM PDT by Jean S
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - Gov. Bob Holden said Thursday that the state highway patrol should reconsider its practice of trading in used guns for resale following reports that one of the guns was used to kill four people in a factory shooting.
Holden, who vetoed a measure Thursday that would allow people to carry concealed weapons, said when he learned Jonathon Russell, 25, had used a semiautomatic pistol from the highway patrol in Tuesday's shooting, "it caused problems for me, that's all I'll say."
Russell killed himself, and his motive remained unclear Thursday as relatives ruled out possibilities such as love interests or gambling problems.
In a statement released Thursday, Russell's mother, Nina M. Tichelkamp, said her son wanted to be a police officer and purchased the .40-caliber Glock to use at the Missouri Sheriff's Training Academy. Mick Covington, the academy training director, confirmed that Russell had asked for information about applying.
The highway patrol traded about 1,400 of its semiautomatic pistols starting last November through a suburban Kansas City wholesaler for about the same number of Glocks, upgraded with attachable flashlights.
One of those used pistols - stamped with the patrol's emblem and the agency initials "MSHP" - was resold to Russell.
On Tuesday, Russell punched his time card at the Modine Manufacturing Co. plant, walked to his work station and started firing. After killing four people and wounding five, Russell drove from the plant to the downtown police station, where he fired at two officers who confronted him, Jefferson City police Capt. Jim Johnsen said.
Johnsen said one of the officers fired back, and Russell started to run off, then stopped and killed himself.
Asked about the patrol's resales of handguns during a news conference in St. Louis, Holden replied: "I think we ought to look at changing that."
"We will look at the rules and how that's happening and see what is more appropriate," Holden said.
The patrol, like many law enforcement agencies, considers it cost-efficient to barter its old firearms in deals for new weapons, said Capt. Chris Ricks, spokesman at headquarters in Jefferson City, noting that the weapons cost about $400 each.
"It's just not effective financial management for an agency our size to melt down 1,000 guns and then go out and pay somebody half a million dollars for 1,000 new guns."
In her statement Thursday, Tichelkamp insisted her son was not a bad person until something made him snap before the shooting spree.
"He wasn't mentally ill, he wasn't a monster, he wasn't an in-debt gambler," she said. "He was a strong believer in right and wrong, and this was out of character for him."
Russell, or "Jon Jon" as relatives called him, lived with his mother and brother at a trailer park in Holts Summit, a few miles from Jefferson City. Relatives said he was very close with his family, and cried recently when the family dog died.
Modine officials said Russell was on work-related probation for absenteeism, but Russell's family disputed that.
"We simply don't know why he did what he did, and we may never know," said Roger Hetrick, a Modine spokesman.
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Associated Press Writers Jim Salter, Robert Sandler and Paul Sloca contributed to this report.
AP-ES-07-03-03 1845EDT
Pathetic liberal drivel.... The gun did it...ban all guns... From now on all crime must be made illegal then and only then will there be no crime... "Bob" is just postering and trolling for liberals... You dont suppose a guy like Bob could actually believe this stuff do ya?.... Its kinda neat ...anything that comes into the mind of a "genius" has gotta be true...forget logic forget statistics forget evidence to the contrary.... The liberal elite of America.....they are clueless/hopeless....
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