Daingerfield church shooting


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.

Victims

  • Gene Gandy, 49
  • Mary Regina "Gina" Linam, 7
  • James Young "Red" McDaniel, 53
  • Thelma May Richardson, 72
  • Kenneth Alton Truitt, 49
Additionally, Arthur Greaves, 69, Robert Jack Dean, 56, and Laverne McDaniel were injured during the shooting.

In popular culture


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