Alabama police try to make sense of massacre

Investigators in Alabama are piecing togetherdetails andpossiblemotivesbehindTuesday'srampage bya suicidal gunman whokilled10 people an attack thatpolice are calling "the single deadliest crime" recorded in the state.

Nine of the 10were gunned down with bullets from a semi-automatic weapon in two rural Alabama counties near the Florida borderTuesday afternoon.

Authorities saidWednesday that Michael McLendon, in his 20s, killed his mother first,burningdown herhome while she wasinside.

Coffee County Sheriff Dave Sutton saidMcLendon had placed his mother, whom he lived with,on a couch, piled objects on top of her and set her ablaze.

Four dogs were also shot to death in the house, Sutton said.

McLendon then drove to a relative's homein Samon in Geneva County, police said. He killedthree family membersand two others who were sitting on the porch before going next door and shooting another relative.

"He cleaned his family out," said Robert Preachers, the Coffee County coroner. "We don't know what triggered it."'

Sheriff's deputy loses wife, 18-month-old daughter

Three of the people struck on the porch were the wife and two daughters of local sheriff's deputy Josh Myers,one of the law enforcement officers involved in the chase for McLendon.

The family lived across the street from the gunman's relatives and were visiting during the attack.

Myers's four-month-old daughter survived the attack and is in hospital, but his wife and 18-month-old daughter died.

McLendonthen drove around the town shooting out his car window, killing three more people seemingly at random, authorities said.

One woman was struck down as she walked out of a gas station. Another man was hit while driving. A man was shot in the back as he tried to run away.

McLendon then drove about 20 kilometres to a nearby metals plant where he had once worked and, after a 30-round shootout with police, killed himself.

Four other people were also injured.

Coffee County District Attorney Gary McAliley said a search of McLendon's home turned up a list of people he had worked with "who had done him wrong."

Shootings could have been worse: police

"This event formed the single deadliest crime record in Alabama," Col. Chris Murphy ofAlabama State Policetold reporters at anews conference in Montgomery.

"We're all shocked and grieved by these events. What I am proud of is the way the law enforcement community immediately has come together without the least hesitation in response."

He said he didn't expect any more breaking news inthe case.

"The events have concluded. Now it's more of a tedious investigation," he said.

Based on the amount of ammunition the man was carrying, thedeath tollcould have been far worse, investigators said. "He was heavily armed," Sutton said.

McLendon was armed with two assault rifles, a .38-calibre handgun and a shotgun, police said. They believe he shot in excess of 200 rounds during the attacks.

"He sprayed bullets through the town," said Kirke Adams, district attorney for Geneva and Dale counties.

"There's a lot of people who had close calls."

McLendon once employed as police officer

Police said McLendon was a well-known member of the community. The town's mayorhad coached him in baseball, and Alabama Bureau of Investigation Chief Jerry Connor said McLendon was briefly employed as a Samson police officer in 2003, but didn't complete the required training.

McLendon had worked for food manufacturer Kelly Foods of Alabama since 2007, but quit lastWednesday.

Samson Mayor Clay King said he had known McLendon all his life and could not even speculate about what triggered the shootings.

"If you would have asked me two days ago if he was capable of this, I would have said certainly not," King said.

Police said McLendon had no known criminal record.

King also knew all the victims in the small town of about 2,000.

"What I'm focusing on is people here in the town, making sure they feel comfortable," said King. "I've lived here 44 years and never, never dreamed of this happening."