Gunman in Michigan senior complex kills two in rampage
http://robots.cnn.com/2000/US/04/19/detroit.shooting.ap/index.html
April 19, 2000
Web posted at: 8:37 AM EDT (1237 GMT)
LINCOLN PARK, Michigan (AP) -- When tenants at a senior citizens complex accused a neighbor of using vulgar language, officials at the residence called a meeting between both sides to try to defuse the situation.
But instead of ending tension, Tuesday's meeting apparently sparked a rampage. After angrily denying the charges, the accused man abruptly left -- and came back shooting.
When it was over, two women were killed and another critically wounded. One of those killed was a resident who had originally filed the complaint.
"A dirty joke. He told a filthy joke. That's what it is. All of this is over a dirty joke," said Phyllis McLenon, deputy director of the housing commission.
City Attorney Edward M. Zelenak identified the gunman as Kenneth Ray Miller, 56. Police had searched the 14-story public housing building in suburban Detroit for several hours before they stormed Miller's apartment.
Miller was found asleep, surrounded by three rifles, 200 rounds of ammunition and spent casings, police said. Lincoln Park police Lt. Donald Gentner said Miller wasn't injured but was on narcotics. Miller was arrested and taken to a hospital for observation, though his condition was not being released early today.
One of the women killed was Marilyn Higgins, 48, a former city councilwoman who was delivering donated food to needy seniors when the shooting began. The other woman killed was identified as Alvita King, the tenant who filed the complaint.
Higgins' husband, Charles, said Miller opened fire without warning.
"One of the residents from the tower came down into the break room and started shooting with a rifle and killed my wife," Higgins said in today's Detroit Free Press.
"I went to a room where I thought I could get to a phone and my wife came down the hall after me. She started hollering at him to stop doing that and he just shot her."
The third woman shot, a 55-year-old female tenant, was hospitalized in critical condition, a spokeswoman said.
McLenon said Miller had been called to a noontime meeting with apartment officials and residents after some tenants complained of foul language. The allegations stemmed from a complaint filed by King a week earlier.
"He said something really filthy to her," McLenon said.
During a 10-minute meeting about the complaint, McLenon said she told Miller his alleged remarks were inappropriate. Miller rebutted that it was King who had been feuding with him.
McLenon said Miller left the meeting and was gone for about 10 minutes before a maintenance man reported by two-way radio that he was coming back shooting.
"He came in looking for us," she said.
Fay Herron, an employee at the building, said Miller put the gun to her right temple and said: "I will show you what this does."
Instead, he walked away.
Tenants in the building, which has about 114 residents, were told to stay in their apartments, and children at a nearby elementary school were kept indoors until parents arrived to pick them up.
Police began negotiating with Miller about 12:45 p.m. He told them he had just swallowed some painkillers. Twenty minutes into the conversation, Miller's voice became slurred and his conversation rambling.
"He was in midsentence and began to snore," Lincoln Park police Sgt. Peter McInchak said.
Miller wrote on his housing application before he moved into the subsidized housing that he suffered from schizophrenia and was on antidepressant medication, McLenon told the Free Press.
Marilyn Higgins, a longtime Lincoln Park Housing Commission member, was known as an activist for the aged and for city preservation.
"Lincoln Park has lost a dedicated angel and princess," said Frank Sall, former mayor and city council member.
http://robots.cnn.com/2000/US/04/19/detroit.shooting.ap/index.html
April 19, 2000
Web posted at: 8:37 AM EDT (1237 GMT)
LINCOLN PARK, Michigan (AP) -- When tenants at a senior citizens complex accused a neighbor of using vulgar language, officials at the residence called a meeting between both sides to try to defuse the situation.
But instead of ending tension, Tuesday's meeting apparently sparked a rampage. After angrily denying the charges, the accused man abruptly left -- and came back shooting.
When it was over, two women were killed and another critically wounded. One of those killed was a resident who had originally filed the complaint.
"A dirty joke. He told a filthy joke. That's what it is. All of this is over a dirty joke," said Phyllis McLenon, deputy director of the housing commission.
City Attorney Edward M. Zelenak identified the gunman as Kenneth Ray Miller, 56. Police had searched the 14-story public housing building in suburban Detroit for several hours before they stormed Miller's apartment.
Miller was found asleep, surrounded by three rifles, 200 rounds of ammunition and spent casings, police said. Lincoln Park police Lt. Donald Gentner said Miller wasn't injured but was on narcotics. Miller was arrested and taken to a hospital for observation, though his condition was not being released early today.
One of the women killed was Marilyn Higgins, 48, a former city councilwoman who was delivering donated food to needy seniors when the shooting began. The other woman killed was identified as Alvita King, the tenant who filed the complaint.
Higgins' husband, Charles, said Miller opened fire without warning.
"One of the residents from the tower came down into the break room and started shooting with a rifle and killed my wife," Higgins said in today's Detroit Free Press.
"I went to a room where I thought I could get to a phone and my wife came down the hall after me. She started hollering at him to stop doing that and he just shot her."
The third woman shot, a 55-year-old female tenant, was hospitalized in critical condition, a spokeswoman said.
McLenon said Miller had been called to a noontime meeting with apartment officials and residents after some tenants complained of foul language. The allegations stemmed from a complaint filed by King a week earlier.
"He said something really filthy to her," McLenon said.
During a 10-minute meeting about the complaint, McLenon said she told Miller his alleged remarks were inappropriate. Miller rebutted that it was King who had been feuding with him.
McLenon said Miller left the meeting and was gone for about 10 minutes before a maintenance man reported by two-way radio that he was coming back shooting.
"He came in looking for us," she said.
Fay Herron, an employee at the building, said Miller put the gun to her right temple and said: "I will show you what this does."
Instead, he walked away.
Tenants in the building, which has about 114 residents, were told to stay in their apartments, and children at a nearby elementary school were kept indoors until parents arrived to pick them up.
Police began negotiating with Miller about 12:45 p.m. He told them he had just swallowed some painkillers. Twenty minutes into the conversation, Miller's voice became slurred and his conversation rambling.
"He was in midsentence and began to snore," Lincoln Park police Sgt. Peter McInchak said.
Miller wrote on his housing application before he moved into the subsidized housing that he suffered from schizophrenia and was on antidepressant medication, McLenon told the Free Press.
Marilyn Higgins, a longtime Lincoln Park Housing Commission member, was known as an activist for the aged and for city preservation.
"Lincoln Park has lost a dedicated angel and princess," said Frank Sall, former mayor and city council member.