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Kirkwood City Council shooting

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Attacks in the United States in 2008Crimes in MissouriDeaths by firearm in MissouriFebruary 2008 crimesFebruary 2008 events in the United StatesHistory of St. Louis County, MissouriMass murder in 2008Mass shootings in MissouriMass shootings in the United StatesMassacres in the United StatesMurder in MissouriPolitical violence in the United StatesSpree shootings in the United StatesUse mdy dates from April 2021
Near the city hall shooting in Kirkwood
Near the city hall shooting in Kirkwood

On February 7, 2008, a gunman went on a shooting rampage at a public meeting in the city hall, leaving six people dead and one injured in Kirkwood, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis. Charles Lee "Cookie" Thornton, aged 52, shot one police officer with a revolver across the side street from city hall and took the officer's handgun before entering city hall. Thornton reached council chambers with these two pistols shortly after the meeting began. There, he shot a police officer, the public works director, two council members, the mayor, and a reporter. In total, the gunman killed five and wounded two others; one of the two wounded victims, the mayor died seven months later in a hospice where he was receiving cancer care. The shooter died from two gunshot wounds in a shootout with police.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Kirkwood City Council shooting (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Kirkwood City Council shooting
South Kirkwood Road,

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Wikipedia: Kirkwood City Council shootingContinue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 38.58009 ° E -90.40688 °
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Address

Kirkwood City Hall

South Kirkwood Road 139
63122
Missouri, United States
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Phone number

call+13148225800

Website
kirkwoodmo.org

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Near the city hall shooting in Kirkwood
Near the city hall shooting in Kirkwood
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Nearby Places

Meacham Park (neighborhood)

Meacham Park is a neighborhood of the city of Kirkwood, Missouri outside of St. Louis City in St. Louis County. It was established in 1892 by Elzey E. Meacham as an unincorporated community largely of African Americans and was eventually annexed by the city of Kirkwood, which relocated many of its residents to make way for a mall and other commercial property. Kirkwood previously annexed another strip and, along with the construction of a highway, physically divided the communities. Years of discrimination and neglect followed with Meacham used for public housing projects but not receiving the public services of its neighboring city. After it was annexed and hundreds of residents relocated or departed, tensions continued as its school was closed, requests for a community center at the closed school denied, and contracts made for city business with firms outside Meacham. During segregation Meacham Park stood apart with its own institutions.On February 7, 2008, Charles L. "Cookie" Thornton, a disturbed construction business owner who had been in dispute with Kirkwood officials for years, shot up a Kirkwood city council meeting killing five people.The former J. Milton Turner School building in Meacham Park is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Also, the neighborhood's First Baptist Church, established in 1907 and originally built next to the J. Milton Turner School, was one of the first buildings in the St. Louis area that was owned by African Americans.The area includes the 1.25 acre Meacham Memorial Park.