.NEOSHO, Mo. (AP) – A gunman opened fire in the sanctuary of a southwest Missouri church Sunday, killing a pastor and two worshippers and wounding several others, authorities said.

One of the victims was the Rev. Kernal Rehobson, 44, who led the local congregation of predominantly Micronesian worshippers holding the service at the First Congregational Church, police said.

The other two victims were male members of the congregation, who were “what we would call deacons,” said Dave McCracken, Neosho police chief. Their names were not released because relatives were still being notified.

The gunman ordered all the children out of the church before he started shooting and briefly held between 25 to 50 people hostage before surrendering, McCracken said.

At least five people were wounded, McCracken said. But he said others who were injured may have fled before police secured the church. Police have been told that the five who were injured will recover, he said.

Rehobson was shot multiple times and was dead at the scene, Newton County Coroner Mark Bridges said.

Rehobson had led the group of Micronesians for about 15 years and ran a Micronesian store out of his house in Goodman, Larry Zuniga, who worked with Rehobson at Wal-Mart, told the Neosho Daily News.

The congregation used to meet at Rehobson’s house and was using the First Congregational Church for worship while it searched for a permanent home, Zuniga told the paper.

Officials removed two covered bodies from the brick-and-white trim church into a waiting funeral parlor van Sunday evening.

“This is a terrible tragedy which was made worse by the fact that it happened in a peaceful place of faith and worship,” Gov. Matt Blunt said in a statement.

The suspect, a man in his 40s who was from the Pacific islands, was being held at the Newton County Jail, but McCracken would not release any more information about him. No charges had been filed Sunday, McCracken said.

McCracken said the gunman had two small-caliber handguns and one 9 mm semiautomatic machine pistol with a large magazine.

The shooting followed the 1 p.m. service, which was attended by about 50 people, ranging in age from children to the elderly. The church opened its doors to the group of worshippers from the Pacific islands, said Patty Mendoza, 35, whose friend attends the service.

“There are a lot of islanders that come here,” Mendoza said. “It’s terrible. I can’t imagine what it was about.”

The gunman surrendered to authorities after about 10 minutes of negotiation.

“At the time that the rescue attempt was successful we had approximately 20 people in the sanctuary still,” McCracken said. “We had some people who escaped the crime scene prior to the police arrival that were wounded, and we had some people escape during the process and at the time of the rescue.”

He said no one was injured during the arrest.

McCracken said he could not confirm whether the gunman was a member of the church. But he said an incident involving the suspect and a family that attended the First Congregational Church on Saturday night fueled the shooting Sunday.

“At this point though, we don’t have any information more than that,” McCracken said.

Calls to the church went unanswered.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Setlist:
Awesome is the Lord Most High – Tomlin
Cochise – Audioslave
Hells Bells – ACDC
In Christ Alone -Newsboys

Broadcast – Steve Fee

Triangle Foundation officials said the rainbow flag was flying below the U.S. and Episcopal flags at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church on North Main Street, when it was ripped from the flagpole in broad daylight Saturday.

Church officials filed a complaint with the Clawson Police Department. The old flag was replaced with a new, temporary flag display

WOW- what the heck

ANDERSON, SC — Rock will bring relief to Anderson Interfaith Ministries and Anderson Crisis Pregnancy Center this month at LiveFreeLiveLoud: A Concert for Charity.

The family-friendly concert will be held from 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. June 29 at the William A. Floyd Amphitheater in Anderson, featuring live music from the NewSpring Band, fireworks show and free tethered hot air balloon rides.

A suggested donation of $10 per person or $20 per family will be collected at the gate. Concessions will be sold inside the amphitheater, but families are invited to bring picnics, coolers, lawn chairs and bl  ankets. (read more)

Johns Photos

http://www.thenorthwestern.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070616/OSH/306160018/1987

Arrest powers vital in public sector draw lawsuits in company setting

Hiring off-duty police officers to work private security both fills a manpower need and provides an unmistakable deterrent (given that uniformed police enjoy powers to arrest offenders on the spot). However, security directors should always bear in mind the risk that a police officer who overreacts (in the company’s view) to a situation can draw lawsuits.”Police officers tend to be more authoritarian in their approach,” said James F. Pastor, president of the SecureLaw Ltd./Lemont, Ill., security consulting firm and a former Chicago police officer. Bottom line, security officers are usually trained to be customer-friendly, police aren’t, and that can lead to an impulse to arrest, he said. Problem: Suppose a visitor on company property becomes belligerent with a police officer working private security, rather than cooperate. Coveting their customer relations and realizing they lack legal protections that cities do, companies often train their security officers to talk a person into cooperating, detaining that person only as a last resort. However, off-duty police may skip to the arrest powers when the situation doesn’t necessarily require it, Pastor said.Trust us, that really happens. One security director interviewed by CS is in the middle of pending litigation against his company over an off-duty police officer’s actions. He made an arrest on company property, but charges against the suspect later were dropped.Now, that individual is suing the company, claiming the cop was definitely employed by the private company, which therefore must be held accountable for his wrong actions.

Designate Cops As ContractorsHowever, many companies structure their relationship with off-duty police strictly as contractors, not as full-time employees, to prepare for this very accusation. This company will argue in court that the police officer was acting as a city employee when he made the arrest, and emphasize that he serves as a contractor.Especially in the retail sector, using off-duty police officers can create unwanted liability. Private security officers and police are trained to act differently when they suspect shoplifting or other crimes have been committed, said Alan Greggo, CPP, loss prevention director at Luxottica Retail/Mason, Ohio.Police officers legally can make an arrest acting on probable cause with no personal knowledge, while security officers are generally trained only to detain a suspect if they actually saw the suspect steal. And, after that point, a veteran security director won’t let his officers detain that suspect for long if they find no solid evidence – or else the company risks getting sued.

Every Arrest Is Potential LawsuitSo, if an off-duty police officer makes an arrest, and the charges are eventually dropped, the company is at heightened risk for a lawsuit even though it would argue the cop was acting in his city capacity.”The security officer has the rule that we give them that you must see the theft and recover the product,” Greggo said. “Police officers don’t operate under the same rules.” Whenever possible, he much prefers training a security officer on the company rules than bringing in a police officer whose instincts are to apply rules he has learned with the police department. In addition, “the security officer is in-house and knows the culture of the business” and is likelier to act as an appropriate company representative in a tense situation, Greggo said.Most companies that use off-duty police want them in uniform and with their weapon, since their primary value is as a deterrent.Contact Info : James Pastor, ; Alan Greggo, .Source: Corporate Security,

05/15/2007Copyright © 2007 by Strafford Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Storage, reproduction or transmission by any means is prohibited except pursuant to a valid license agreement.

May 15, 2007