An out-of-work
truck driver accused of opening fire at a Unitarian church
and killing two people left behind a note,
which suggested that he targeted the congregation
out of hatred for its liberal policies, including its
acceptance of gays, authorities said Monday.
A four-page
letter found in Jim D. Adkisson's small SUV indicated he
intentionally targeted the Tennessee Valley Unitarian
Universalist Church in Knoxville, Tenn., because, the
police chief said, ''he hated the liberal movement''
and was upset with ''liberals in general as well as
gays.''
Adkisson, a
58-year-old truck driver on the verge of losing his food
stamps, had 76 rounds with him when he entered the church
and pulled a shotgun from a guitar case during a
children's performance of the musical Annie.
Adkisson's
ex-wife once belonged to the church but hadn't attended in
years, said Ted Jones, the congregation's president. Police
investigators described Adkisson as a ''stranger'' to
the congregation, and police spokesman Darrell DeBusk
declined to comment on whether investigators think the
ex-wife's link to the church was a factor in the attack.
Adkisson remained
jailed Monday on $1 million bond after being charged
with one count of murder. More charges are expected. Four
victims remained hospitalized, including two in
critical condition.
The attack Sunday
morning lasted only minutes. But the anger behind it
may have been building for months, if not years.
''It appears that
what brought him to this horrible event was his lack of
being able to obtain a job, his frustration over that, and
his stated hatred for the liberal movement,'' Police
Chief Sterling Owen said.
Adkisson was a
loner who hates ''blacks, gays, and anyone different from
him,'' longtime acquaintance Carol Smallwood of Alice,
Texas, told the Knoxville News Sentinel.
Authorities said
Adkisson's criminal record consisted of only two
drunken-driving citations. But court records reviewed by the
Associated Press show that his former wife obtained an
order of protection in March 2000 while the two were
still married and living in the Knoxville suburb of
Powell.
The couple had
been married for almost 10 years when, in requesting the
order, Liza Alexander wrote that Adkisson threatened
''to blow my brains out and then blow his own brains
out.'' She told a judge that she was ''in fear for my
life and what he might do.''
Calls to
Alexander's home were not answered Monday, and the voice
mailbox was full.
Monday night an
overflow crowd of more than 1,000 people attended a
memorial service at the Second Presbyterian Church next door
to the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church.
''We're here
tonight to make sense of the senseless,'' the Reverend
William Sinkford, president of the Unitarian Universalist
Association of Congregations, told the gathering.
In Adkisson's
letter, which police have not released, ''he
indicated...that he expected to be in there [the church]
shooting people until the police arrived and that he
fully expected to be killed by the responding
police,'' Owen said. ''He certainly intended to take a lot
of casualties.''
Witnesses said
the attack was cut short after some church members tackled
the gunman and held him until police arrived.
The Unitarian
Universalist church advocates for women's rights and gay
rights and has also provided sanctuary for political
refugees. It has fed the homeless and founded a
chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union,
according to its website.
Owen said
authorities believe the suspect had gone to the Unitarian
church because of ''some publicity in the recent past
regarding its liberal stance on things.''
Owen did not
identify the publicity, but the Reverend Chris Buice, the
church's pastor, is a frequent contributor to the Knoxville
newspaper.
''In the midst of
political and religious controversy, I choose to love
my neighbors as myself,'' Buice wrote in an op-ed piece
published in March. ''Ultimately, I believe that
tolerance, compassion, and respect are the qualities
we need to keep Knoxville and East Tennessee
beautiful.''
A police
affidavit, used to get a search warrant for Adkisson's home,
said the suspect admitted to the shooting.
Adkisson ''stated
that he had targeted the church because of its liberal
teachings and his belief that all liberals should be killed
because they were ruining the country, and that he
felt that the Democrats had tied his country's hands
in the war on terror and they had ruined every
institution in America with the aid of the major media
outlets,'' investigator Steve Still wrote.
Adkisson told
authorities he had no next of kin or family. He lived about
a 20-minute drive from the Unitarian church -- one of three
in the Knoxville area. The church is in an established
neighborhood of older, upscale homes and several other
houses of worship near the University of Tennessee.
The police chief
said the suspect bought the shotgun at a pawn shop about
a month ago, and he wrote the letter in the last week or so.
A .38-caliber handgun was found in his home.
About 200 people
from throughout the community were watching 25 children
performing Annie when the suspect entered the
church, pulled out a semiautomatic shotgun, and fired three
fatal blasts.
Church member
Barbara Kemper said the gunman shouted ''hateful words''
before he opened fire, but police investigators said other
witnesses didn't recall him saying anything.
A burly usher,
60-year-old Greg McKendry, was hailed as a hero for
shielding others from gunfire as other church members rushed
to wrestle the gunman to the ground. Police arrived at
10:21 a.m., three minutes after getting the 911 call,
and arrested Adkisson.
No children were
hurt, but eight people were shot, including the two who
died -- McKendry and Linda Kraeger, 61.
When the first
shot rang out at the rear of the sanctuary, many church
members thought it might be part of the play or a glitch in
the public-address system. Some laughed before turning
around to see the shooter and his first victims
covered in blood.
Jamie Parkey
crawled under the pews with his daughter and mother when the
second and third shots were fired. He saw several men rush
the suspect.
''I jumped up to
join them,'' he told AP Television News. ''When I got
there they were already wrestling with him. The gun was in
the air. Somebody grabbed the gun, and we just kind of
dog-piled him to the floor. I knew a police
suppression hold, and I sat on him until police came.''
Parkey's wife,
Amy Broyles, was visiting the church to see her daughter
in the play. She said Adkisson ''was a man who was hurt in
the world and feeling that nothing was going his
way,'' she said. ''He turned the gun on people who
were mostly likely to treat him lovingly and
compassionately and be the ones to help someone in that
situation.''
Investigators
were reviewing several video recordings of the performance
by parents and church members. Owen said police would not
release the videos or Adkisson's letter until they
have been analyzed for evidence.
Adkisson, who
faces his next court hearing August 5, was first put
on active duty with the Army in 1974. Army records show
he was a helicopter repairman, rising from a private
to specialist and then was returned to private rank
before being discharged in late 1977. (Duncan
Mansfield, AP)
