MO - Three people killed, 4 injured in Neosho church shooting, 12 Aug 2007

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A gunman opened fire in the sanctuary of a southwest Missouri church Sunday, killing three people and wounding several others, a city spokeswoman said.


About 25 to 50 people were briefly held hostage at the First Congregational Church until the gunman surrendered, Neosho spokeswoman Desiree Bridges said.

Fewer than 10 people were also shot and wounded, Bridges said.
The shooter was being held at the Newton County Jail, but police were not releasing any information about him.

Bridges said he was related to someone in the church, but declined to elaborate.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070812/ap_on_re_us/church_shooting&printer=1


 
NEOSHO, Mo. - A gunman opened fire in the sanctuary of a southwest Missouri church Sunday, killing three people and wounding several others, a city spokeswoman said.
About 25 to 50 people were briefly held hostage at the First Congregational Church until the gunman surrendered, Neosho spokeswoman Desiree Bridges said.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20238693/
 
How awful! People should be able to feel safe in church.
 
Update: http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/ne...25F65F324EB728CC86257335007942EA?OpenDocument


A gunman opened fire inside a church Sunday afternoon in southwest Missouri, killing three people and wounding four to six others, authorities said. Police said several people were taken to a hospital by helicopter and ambulance.

Police said the gunman began shooting inside the First Congregational Church in Neosho, Mo., shortly before 2 p.m. and held 25 to 50 hostages until police entered the church through the basement and took the man into custody.

Neosho Mayor Howard Birdsong said Sunday evening that many of the town's residents who were just learning of the shooting were feeling "utter shock and disbelief."

"You can't imagine that this would happen in the foothills of the Ozarks," Birdsong said. "You just don't have this type of crime like this here."
 
The shooting followed the 1 p.m. service, which is held in Spanish.
About 50 people, ranging in age from children to the elderly, were in the church at the time.

...

McCracken said he could not confirm whether the gunman was a member of the church. But he said an incident involving the suspect and a family that attended the First Congregational Church on
Saturday night fueled the shooting Sunday.


http://www.ksdk.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=126673
 
NEOSHO, Mo. - Prosecutors on Monday filed three murder charges against a man accused of opening fire inside of a church on Sunday. The man is also a suspect in the alleged sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl a day earlier.
~snip
Watson said the girl in the alleged sexual assault is a relative of Saimon’s, but authorities did not specify how the two were related.
~snip
“I think that you’ll find that the victims were what some would term elders or leaders (of the Micronesian congregation),” Watson said. “As information continues to come forward, it appears that the shots that were fired were not random.”

The gunman opened fire Sunday afternoon after ordering children out of the sanctuary of First Congregational Church in southwest Missouri, which the Micronesian congregation rents for its services.

complete AP article.....
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20238693
 
http://www.joplinglobe.com/breakingnews/local_story_225151438.html

Local news reporting this guy is pleading "not guilty." Check out www.joplinglobe.com for some local stories. Some names of those killed, and background stories are also on there as well. Very sad.

So awful, pedinurse! I am so sorry for all of the victim's surviving families members. So many widows and children!
Too much of this kind of thing happens all over the place now!
Is any one safe, anywhere?
 
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,295002,00.html

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — A man accused of opening fire inside a southwest Missouri church was charged Tuesday in the sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl two days before the deadly shooting spree.
Eiken Elam Saimon, 52, is charged with one count of second-degree statutory rape and one count of second-degree statutory sodomy, both felonies.
 
Cameras will be allowed inside a Greene County courtroom when the trial of a man accused in the mass murder of three people inside a Newton County church begins in late June.

In pre-trial motions filed with the court lawyers for Eiken Elam Saimon requested that a judge deny cameras access to the proceedings. That motion was denied.

The trial is scheduled to begin on June 23, 2009.

http://crimesceneinvestigations.blogspot.com/2009/02/cameras-will-be-allowed-in-trial-of.html
 
Cameras will be allowed inside a Greene County courtroom when the trial of a man accused in the mass murder of three people inside a Newton County church begins in late June.

In pre-trial motions filed with the court lawyers for Eiken Elam Saimon requested that a judge deny cameras access to the proceedings. That motion was denied.

The trial is scheduled to begin on June 23, 2009.

http://crimesceneinvestigations.blogspot.com/2009/02/cameras-will-be-allowed-in-trial-of.html

Thank you for the update Kathee. I have been wondering what was going on with this case.
 
The man accused of shooting three people to death during church services at a small southwest Missouri church has entered into a plea deal with prosecutors.

Eiken Elam Saimon's death penalty trial was to begin in June, but he pleaded guilty today (03-20-09) to three counts of first-degree murder and four counts of first-degree assault for the Aug. 12, 2007, ambush at the First Congregational Church in Neosho.



http://crimesceneinvestigations.blogspot.com/2009/03/micronesian-church-shooter-pleads.html
 

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