COLD BLOODED KILLERS (Killers from around the World) (12 page)

Dantzler ran from his vehicle and entered the residence of Joyce Bean on Rickman Avenue. He held her, her boyfriend Steve Helderman, and Meg Holmes hostage. At 9:30 pm, after receiving Gatorade and cigarettes from police, he released Ms. Bean. Two more hours of negotiations ensued with police, then Dantzler released the other two hostages and shot himself in the head. It is believed by police that Dantzler was hunting his former girlfriends in retaliation for his wife leaving him.

- 12-
Michael McLendon

Geneva County, Alabama Massacre

In Kinston, Geneva and Samson, Alabama, on March 10
^th
, 2009, Michael Kenneth McLendon, twenty-eight, killed ten people, literally wiping out his whole family.

By all accounts McLendon had a normal childhood. He was quiet, likeable, a straight ‘A’ student in school, never got into trouble, and was close to his family. He was also, however, a failed Marine and auxiliary policeman who had lost his job, and he had become embroiled in a bitter dispute over a family Bible in the weeks leading up to the killing spree.

The shooting spree began in Kinston, Alabama, when he shot his mother in the head, placed blankets soaked in gasoline over her, and set the house on fire. Before leaving, he shot his mother’s three dogs and arranged them at her feet. He then went to a relative’s home in Samson where he shot several family members, and a neighbor and her daughter. The neighbor was the wife of a Sheriff’s Deputy.

Mclendon then killed a pedestrian along the side of the road before stopping at a gas station where he killed a random customer. From there, he headed towards Geneva along Highway 52, and killed another man who attempted to subdue him. McLendon was chased by police and he shot at several cars during the pursuit. Arriving at a Geneva metal products plant where he used to work, he got into a shootout with the police. Several people were injured, including Police Chief Frankie Lindsey, who was shot in the arm. McLendon eventually shot himself in the head and died instantly.

Detectives later discovered a hit list in his home targeting several corporations, and a letter confessing that he meant to murder his mother and then commit suicide. The letter mentioned a disagreement over a legal issue with his family.

One day after this massacre, a school shooting causing fifteen deaths took place in Winnenden, Germany. Whether the massacre in Geneva County was an actuator for the Winnenden killing could not be determined.

- 13 - 
Tim Kretschmer

Winnenden School Shooting

The day after the Geneva Massacre in Alabama, another school shooting took place in Winnenden, Germany. Tim Kretschmer, seventeen, killed sixteen and injured another eleven people at the Albertville School on March 11
^th
, 2009.

Kretschmer did not have a criminal record, but in 2008 received treatment as an inpatient at the Weissenhoff Psychiatric Clinic near the town of Heilbronn. After being discharged, he was supposed to continue his treatment as an outpatient, but did not follow through. According to a psychiatric report prepared for the prosecutor's office, Kretschmer met five times with a therapist and talked about his growing anger and violent urges; the therapist then informed Kretschmer's parents.

Kretschmer was described by a friend as a lonely and frustrated person who felt rejected by society. Another friend described him as a quiet student who began to withdraw from his peers. Media reports said that he enjoyed playing the video game, Counter Strike, and playing with air soft guns. He also shot his guns in the forest behind his home and in the basement of his house. After the shooting spree, inspecting his computer, officers found that he was interested in sadomasochistic scenes where men are bound and humiliated by women. He viewed such a movie the evening before the crime.

Just hours prior to commencing his killing spree, Tim Kretschmer posted the following message on the internet: “I've had enough. I'm fed up with this bloody life. It's always the same thing, everyone laughs at me, and no one recognizes my potential. I mean this seriously – I've got a weapon here and tomorrow morning I'm going to go to my old school and give them hell. Maybe I'll escape and you will hear from me tomorrow morning.”

After stealing a 9mm Beretta semi-automatic from his parent’s bedroom, Kretschmer went to the Albertville-Realschule at about 9:30am. He ran quickly to the top floor classrooms and chemistry laboratory and started shooting students. Most were females, and shot in the head. He fired a total of sixty rounds in those classrooms.

The school’s principal immediately broadcasted a coded announcement, “Mrs. Koma is coming,” which is ‘amok’ spelled in reverse. This code was introduced in all German schools after the Erfurt School Massacres in April of 2002. It alerts teachers to lock their classroom doors. Just minutes later, the police were notified by several students who called emergency services from their cell phones. Three officers arrived at 9:33 am, interrupting the killing spree. Kretschmer, however, shot at the officers, and killed two female teachers in the hallway as he was running out of the building, where he shot and killed a janitor in the parking lot.

A huge number of police officers secured the school and searched for Kretschmer all over Winnenden for hours without success. In the meantime, at about 10 a.m., Kretschmer carjacked a Volkswagen at a car park. From the rear seat, he ordered the driver, Igor Wolf, to drive towards Wendlingen, approximately twenty-five miles away. Igor Wolf later reported that when he asked Kretschmer why he was carjacking him, Kretschmer replied, "For fun, because it is fun.” The gunman reloaded his magazines and inquired about finding another school. At about noon, when Mr. Wolf saw an approaching police car at the highway, he steered the car towards a grassy median and jumped out.

Kretschmer also left the car and ran into a Volkswagen dealership showroom where he demanded a key for a car. He shot and killed a salesperson and a customer before police descended upon him. The first officer on the scene fired eight shots initially, hitting Kretschmer in both legs. Kretschmer returned to the showcase, fired at the police, and then ran out the back door to a business complex. While doing so, he injured two officers situated in an unmarked car.

According to witnesses, Kretschmer was firing at random. He then reloaded his gun and shot himself in the head. This last part was captured by on a cell phone video. In total, he fired off 112 rounds of ammunition.

In the aftermath following this horrific crime, Police indicted Tim Kretschmer’s father on charges of negligent homicide for not having the 9mm Beretta safely stored. Another fourteen weapons were found in the house, all of them locked up in a gun safe. All of his guns were confiscated.

On February 10
^th
, 2011, the state court found the father guilty of involuntary manslaughter in fifteen cases of bodily harm caused by negligence, and the negligent abandonment of a weapon. He received a suspended sentence of one year and nine months, but has since appealed the verdict.

The families of five of the victims wrote an open letter to Chancellor Angela Merkel, President Horst Köhler, Minister Baden-Württemberg, and President Günther Oettinger, with demands for consequences. They called to prohibit youth from accessing guns in gun clubs, less violence on TV, and a cessation of violent video games. They also called for the reporting of these incidents to be toned down with relation to highlighting details of their crimes, so as to minimize the chance of copycats.