Monday, July 28, 2008 at 9:35 AM A little Sunday Afternoon shooting The man charged with killing two people in a church shooting expressed hatred of "the liberal movement" and frustration at his futile job search, said police chief Sterling Owen of Knoxville, Tenn.
Parishioners said the gunman pulled a 12-gauge shotgun from a guitar case and started shooting as children performed Annie Jr. in the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville, Owen said. The FBI is investigating the shooting, in which seven others were injured, in case there were civil-rights violations, Owen said. Owen said at a Monday news conference that police had recovered a four-page letter in which accused gunman Jim Adkisson, 58, expresses his hatred of liberals and indicated he would keep shooting until police killed him. Police found 76 shotgun shells in the church, including three spent casings, Owen said. "It appears the church has received some publicity in the recent past concerning its liberal stance," Owen said. "There was an indication he was not targeting the children." Church member Barbara Kemper said the gunman shouted as he opened fire. "He was saying hateful things," she said, but refused to elaborate. The slain man was identified as Greg McKendry, 60, a longtime church member and usher. Kemper told the Associated Press that McKendry "stood in the front of the gunman and took the blast to protect the rest of us." Linda Kraeger, 61, died at the University of Tennessee Medical Center a few hours after the shooting, city spokesman Randall Kenner said. Though not a church member, she was attending to see the children's play. Adkisson, 58, was charged with first-degree murder and is being held on $1 million bond in the Knox County Detention Center, Kenner said. His preliminary hearing is set for Aug. 5, Owen said. Attack details: Church members had already tackled the shooter by the time police arrived at the church three minutes after the first 911 call, Owen said. "We're thankful for them for without (them), this situation, as horrible as it is, could've been even worse," Mayor Bill Haslam said. The church, like many other Unitarian Universalist churches, promotes progressive social work, such as desegregation and fighting for the rights of women and gays. The Knoxville congregation has provided sanctuary for political refugees, fed the homeless and founded a chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, according to its website. Karen Massey, who lived two houses from Adkisson's home, told the Knoxville News Sentinel of a lengthy conversation she had with Adkisson a couple years ago after she told him her daughter had just graduated from Johnson Bible College. She said she ended up having to explain to him that she was a Christian. "He almost turned angry," she told the newspaper. "He seemed to get angry at that. He said that everything in the Bible contradicts itself if you read it." Massey said Adkisson talked frequently about his parents, who "made him go to church all his life. ... He acted like he was forced to do that." Police took statements from witnesses and collected video cameras from church members who recorded the performance. Authorities also searched Adkisson's duplex in the Knoxville suburb of Powell on Sunday night but refused to provide any details about what they found. A bomb squad was called in as a precaution. Neighbors described Adkisson as a friendly man who would often work on his motorcycle outside and go on long weekend rides. Church member Becky Harmon said she saw Adkisson pull his shotgun out of the case and step toward McKendry. She told WBIR-TV that he barely got off another shot before church members tackled him. "The hardest part was that there were so many children there at the church today, and they all had to see this," she said. Mark Harmon said he was in the first row as the play got underway. "It had barely begun when there was an incredibly loud bang," he said. Harmon said he thought the noise was part of the play, then he heard a second loud bang. As he dove for cover, he realized a woman behind him was bleeding. She looked like she was in shock, touching her wound, he said. "It seems so unreal," Harmon said. "You're sitting in church, you're watching a children's performance of a play and suddenly you hear a bang." Harmon said church members just behind him in the second and third rows were shot. Seven gunshot victims — all adults — were taken to the medical center. Owen said one was treated and released, and the others were in "varying stages of serious to critical condition." The shooting follows other church tragedies. In December, Matthew Murray killed four people at a church and missionary center in Colorado. In August, Eiken Elam Saimon shot and killed three people at a church in Anderson, Mo. —plurry | 
