Breaking: 3 dead, several wounded in Mo. church shooting

BULLETIN: 3 dead, several wounded in downtown church shooting
By Rick Rogers
Daily News Publisher

Authorities get ready to enter the First Congregational Church at 121 N. Wood in downtown Neosho as a gunman held approximately 20-50 churchgoers hostage Sunday afternoon. According to Neosho Police Chief Dave McCracken three people are confirmed dead, and about four to five are confirmed injured, in the incident. The gunman, who is in custody at the Newton County Jail, was apprendened by authorities without incident.
Three people were killed, and several others were wounded after a person entered a church service at the First Congregational Church of Neosho and opened fire Sunday afternoon.

Dave McCracken, Neosho police chief, said the number of confirmed wounded persons is four to five, but several others who were injured fled the scene during the incident.

The incident happened during an afternoon service catering to "Islanders" and held in the Spanish language. The church is located at 121 N. Wood, one block north of the downtown square in Neosho. McCracken said approximately 50 people were in the church when the shooting happened.

"At the time that the rescue attempt was successful we had approximately 20 people in the sanctuary still," he 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," McCracken said. "At this point we are unclear as to how many people have been wounded, but as the investigation continues that will be determined."

The suspect, whose identity had not been released by authorities, is in custody in the Newton County Jail. No charges have been filed, and McCracken said those charges may not be filed until Monday morning. McCracken did confirm that the suspect was of "Hispanic or islander" descent. The gunman surrendered to authorities without incident. The gunman surrendered within "five to 10 minutes" after authorities entered the church, according to McCracken.

"After evaluating the scene and gaining additional assistance from the Newton County Sheriff's Department and the Missouri State Highway Patrol, entry was made into the sanctuary area where the suspect was confronted," McCracken said. "The suspect surrendered to officers with no resistance. There was threat to the police, as well as the hostages, but no one was injured during the arrest."

Three weapons were recovered from the suspect, who surrendered to authorities after they entered the church. McCracken said the gunman had two small caliber handguns, and one 9 mm semi-automatic pistol with a large magazine.

McCracken said he could not confirm if the gunman was a member of the church.

A member of the Newton County Sheriff's Department runs with a firearm as authorities prepare to enter the church, where a gunman killed three, wounded several others and held the congregation hostage in downtown Neosho. The gunman was arrested without incident, and is in custody. |
McCracken said the incident started at 1:54 p.m. on a hot and humid Sunday afternoon. McCracken said those who were in the church at the time of the incident ranged in age from the elderly to children.

He said an incident involving the suspect and a family who attended church at the First Congregational Church on Saturday night fueled the incident Sunday.

"At this point though, we don't have any information more than that," McCracken said. "The incident happened in the county, but I do not have this information at this time."

McCracken said the names, ages and descriptions of the deceased could not be released at the time of the press briefing.

McCracken said he "had seen nothing like this" in his time as police chief of the City of Neosho, a title he has held since 1994.

Chris Gray, an emergency medical technician with Freeman Ambulance District, said he and another EMT treated two of the injured: A male in his early to mid 40s with a gunshot wound to the head and an elderly woman with a gunshot wound to the left arm. Neither of those injuries appeared to be life-threatening, Gray said.

McCracken said more details should be released Monday morning
http://www.neoshodailynews.com/articles ... ooting.prt

Is someone doing the leg work to determine the status of the suspect on this one?

W

Sunday, August 12, 2007

BULLETIN: Friend of victim says 'Neosho lost a really great person'
By John Hacker
For the Daily News
Published: Sunday, August 12, 2007 6:35 PM CDT
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One of the victims in Sunday's shooting at a Neosho church was a friend to the hundreds of Micronesian immigrants who have come to Neosho over the years.

Larry Zuniga, 42, Neosho, said he had been friends with Kernal Rehobson, a leader of this group of worshippers, for about 15 years. Zuniga said he worked with Rehobson at Wal-Mart.

"He was an immaculate person," Zuniga said. "I've known his whole family for years. He and I both used to be drinkers and we both found the Lord at the same time."

Zuniga said Rehobson ran a Micronesian store out of his house in Goodman, providing food for luaus held by the Island community in Neosho to celebrate events such as first birthdays, weddings and others.

Zuniga said the community used the First Congregational Church for worship services while it searched for a permanent home.

"Kernal was responsible for the Islanders," Zuniga said. " He was like a pastor for this church. Anything that happened with anyone in the community, he was the one they always called."

Zuniga said the church used to meet at Rehobson's Goodman home.

"There are no words to describe this," Zuniga said. "He was a great friend."

http://www.neoshodailynews.com/articles ... friend.txt

I wanted to post this from the hometown newspaper before anyone drew any conclusions on the reference to Spanish or Spanish speaking. This is a Micronesian community, which is a Pacific Island area not far from the Philippines.

I don't expect the mainstream media to report this correctly as has this local Mo. paper has and there may be an occasional reference to a "Spanish" service. So don't draw the wrong conclusion please.

Quote:

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Micronesian immigrants

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...What the H ??? Another group granted asylum? One of Kennedy's 9 or so amnesties?

PACIFIC ISLANDS REPORT - July 5, 2001

Pacific Islands Development Program/East-West Center
With Support From Center for Pacific Islands Studies/University of Hawai‘i


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PURSUING THE MICRONESIAN DREAM IN THE USA
http://166.122.164.43/archive/2001/July/07-05-15.htm
By Giff Johnson

MAJURO, Marshall Islands (July 4, 2001 - Pacific Magazine/PINA Nius Online)---Walk into Kojo’s, a popular Japanese restaurant in Kansas City, Missouri, USA, and you’ll find that most of the waitresses, busboys and cooks are from Pohnpei. Check out the Tyson chicken packing plant in Springdale, Arkansas where you can’t move 10 feet down the assembly line without bumping into a Marshall Islander. And that’s not to mention Sea World in Florida, which resonates with workers from the Federated States of Micronesia. Ditto the Kyoto Restaurant chain on the southeastern seaboard, while nursing homes for the elderly throughout the States find scores of FSM and Marshall Islands citizens handling nine-to-five jobs.

The Compact of Free Association between the U.S. and the Marshalls, the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) and Palau, with its visa-free travel to America and its territories, has seen skyrocketing -- though, by global terms, still modest -- migration. Islanders have moved to Guam, Saipan and the U.S. in increasing numbers, particularly since the late 1990s when the economies in the FSM and Marshalls nose-dived. But the U.S. government says it intends to limit the free entry citizens from the Freely Associated States (FAS) currently enjoy, and has begun enforcing long-dormant immigration restrictions against FAS residents.

Nobody knows how many FAS citizens are in the U.S. and its territories, but it is certainly in the tens of thousands. The out-migration has prompted increasingly vocal concerns from the governments in Guam, Saipan and Hawai‘i that say they’ve spent hundreds of millions of dollars providing health, education and social services to FAS citizens but have not been reimbursed by the U.S. government -- as required -- through the Compact.

As the numbers have increased, both the local and federal governments have been rolling back services for which FAS citizens were once eligible. Even when federal law mandated FAS eligibility, U.S. government agencies haven’t been overly enthusiastic about reinstating federal services according to a law President Clinton approved last November 13, which extends federal program status to FAS citizens until new Compact economic provisions, now under renegotiation, come into effect.

In response to the lack of action, in Hawai‘i in late February, Micronesians took to the streets with picket signs, protesting in front of federal agencies to restore their eligibility.

Some island leaders wonder why the U.S. government is so exercised about the issue. Pohnpei Senator, Peter Christian, the lead Compact negotiator for the Federated States of Micronesia, says in actuality, the majority of FAS islanders are working and paying taxes or going to school. Leaders in the Marshalls wonder why the U.S. is focusing so much attention on the FAS -- which are loyal U.S. allies -- when legal FAS migration to the U.S. in no way compares to the waves of other third country nationals attempting to get into the U.S.

FSM consul general on Guam Samson Pretrick acknowledges that some FAS citizens come to Guam, learn that they’re eligible for food stamps, welfare, and housing assistance and get on the dole. "Some don’t understand that the purpose of the welfare program is to help them get by when they’re having difficulties," Pretrick said. "Some think it’s a way of life." But, he says, one "rarely sees a story about the positive impact (of FAS citizens)."

Both the Marshalls and FSM have so far resisted U.S. overtures to put immigration provisions -- that don’t expire like the economic provisions -- on the negotiating table. But that hasn’t stopped the U.S. from putting FAS governments on notice of its intent to crack down on their citizens. The Immigration and Naturalization Service last September approved "habitual residence" regulations that authorize INS to deport non-citizens if they don’t have a job after living in the U.S. or its territories for 14 months. Other long-ignored immigration restrictions are being enforced by INS. Since December, INS has begun denying entry to Marshall Islanders convicted of felony offenses in the Marshalls.

The number of FAS citizens streaming to America is likely to increase during the next two years, particularly if islanders feel they need to get to the U.S. before more stringent regulations are implemented. But even so, just like the tiny islands they come from, the numbers represent just a drop in a huge ocean.

Micronesians Abroad - December 2006
http://www.micsem.org/pubs/counselor/fr ... roadfr.htm

The size of the migrant community gives rise to concerns in some circles. For some the very fact that so many islanders have left home to seek work in the US is evidence of the failure of the island nations of Micronesia to build an economy capable of providing for their own future.

Yet, the provision of the Compact of Free Association allowing islanders to immigrate freely into the US and work there without restriction was written into the Compact for just this purpose. It was intended as a fallback in the event that the local economies could not support their growing populations in years to come. The historical precedents of nations unable to support their own populations are numerous; they range from some of the large European nations-Ireland, Germany, Poland and Italy in the 19th century, to many of the countries of Asia and Latin America today. Moreover, every major island in the Pacific except the independent nations of Melanesia has had recourse to this strategy-and the only reason the Melanesian countries haven't is because there are no modernized nations that currently accept them.

Micronesians everywhere, when asked why they have chosen to move abroad, reply that they are looking for jobs-jobs that they can not find at home. There are other reasons as well: better education, health care for sick members of their family, and sometimes simply the desire to improve their lives. This should sound familiar to many of us who now call ourselves Americans. None of it is much different from what our grandparents or great-grandparents would have told immigration officials at Ellis Island a few generations ago.

Emigration is seldom trouble-free. The problems related to Micronesian emigration to Guam and Hawaii have been well publicized in recent years. Newspaper articles draw attention to the overcrowded and poorly maintained apartments, the emergence of shanty towns, people living in shipping containers or sleeping in parks. Then, too, there are the news items on the arrests for DUI, sexual molestation and domestic violence. With depressing regularity we find familiar island names in the Guam police blotter published in Pacific Daily News. We hear complaints from public school teachers that Micronesian children don't seem to be able to perform up to standard and require extra attention. The lists of medical indigents grows by the month. These new arrivals are not only troublesome but costly, it would seem. Guam and Hawaii have repeatedly filed claims to the federal government for Compact Impact funds in compensation for the burden that these immigrants have placed on their social services.

To judge by the news reports from Guam and Hawaii, the story of Micronesian migration is an unremittingly miserable tale of people unable or unwilling to make the necessary adjustment to life in a modern society. The assumption, of course, is that the islander population, as it moves further afield, will inflict much the same distress on communities in the mainland US.

This is confusing - I, too, thought 'islanders' referred to the Pacific Islanders.

Why was the service in Spanish?

The islands were given the option of various political outcomes to resolve. Saipan chose a closer status than most of the other groups of islands to resolve the end of the UN mandate. The United States had provided transfer payments during the mandate that been a negative incentive to any sort of industry. With the end of the islands being directly under the United States the level of their subsidy from the US declined and the islanders felt discouraged
at their prospects and started leaving in larger numbers.