Daingerfield church shooting

Coordinates: 33°01′52″N 94°43′24″W / 33.03110°N 94.72327°W / 33.03110; -94.72327
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Daingerfield church shooting
LocationDaingerfield, Texas, United States
Coordinates33°01′52″N 94°43′24″W / 33.03110°N 94.72327°W / 33.03110; -94.72327
DateJune 22, 1980
Attack type
Mass murder, mass shooting
Weapons
Deaths5
Injured11 (including the perpetrator)
PerpetratorAlvin Lee King III
MotiveReligious hate crime

The Daingerfield church shooting was a mass murder that occurred at the First Baptist Church in Daingerfield, Texas, United States on June 22, 1980. Alvin Lee King III, 45, a former high school teacher, armed with an M1 carbine, two revolvers, and a scoped, Colt AR-15 SP1 rifle, killed five people and wounded 10 others, after members of the church had declined his request to appear as character witnesses in a trial in which he was charged with raping his daughter. King was arrested after shooting himself and charged with five counts of murder and ten counts of attempted murder, but committed suicide in his prison cell on January 19, 1982, before he could be tried.[1][2][3][4]

Victims[edit]

  • Gene Gandy, 50[3]
  • Gina Linam, 7[3]
  • J.Y. "Red" McDaniel, 49[3]
  • Thelma Richardson, 78[3]
  • Kenneth Truitt, 49[3]

Additionally, Arthur Greaves, 69, Robert Jack Dean, 56, and Laverne McDaniel were injured during the shooting.[3][4]

In popular culture[edit]

Faith Under Fire (2012)

Law & Order, Season 1, Episode 18 - "The Secret Sharers" (1991)

Linam, Larry (2010). The Day the Angels Cried. AuthorHouse. ISBN 978-1449056865.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Ex-teacher accused of killing 5 hangs self, Star-News (January 20, 1982)
  2. ^ "This Is War!", Time (July 7, 1980)
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Five die in church shooting, Spokane Daily Chronicle (June 23, 1980)
  4. ^ a b Blood of the Lamb, Texas Monthly (March 1983)

External links[edit]