Shooter prepared at home, leaves hit-list

In the shadows near the small town of Kinston, shooter of 10 victims and himself, Michael Kenneth McLenden, 28, prepared his rampage Monday with assault rifles, a handgun and ammunition enough to kill many.

According to Coffee, Pike and Geneva counties 12th Judicial Circuit District Attorney Gary McAliley, who was at the scene of the mother’s home on County Road 474 early Tuesday morning, 20 to 30 boxes of ammo were found, along with a bullet-proof vest, empty containers of ammo and notes left by the assailant on a dresser and on the kitchen table.

“The notes had lists of co-employees and employers who apparently had done him wrong,” he said. “Along side of the names, he wrote notes on who had done what, for example, ‘turned me in for not wearing earplugs.’ The note also listed three different locations of employers.”

McAliley said on the list contained the names of Kelley Foods, McLendon’s most recent employer; Reliable in Geneva and Pilgrim’s Pride near Enterprise.
According to a press release from Kelley Foods and Human Resources Manager Erik Ennis on Tuesday, “Michael McLendon was employed from July 27, 2007 until he voluntarily quit on Wednesday of last week. Michael worked in our manufacturing division and was a reliable team member. Michael by nature was a quite person that never had very much to say he just did his job. He was liked by his co-workers and worked well with others.”

Officials believe McLendon shot his mother, Lisa McLendon, 52, and her dog, after 2:15 p.m. She and the dog were found dead on a living room couch where the vicinity of a fire started.

Chief Investigator for the District Attorney’s Office Dwight Holley, said a small fuel can was found, which was believed to had been used to start the fire at the residence.

“We believe he shot his mother first and the dog, then set the couch on fire, but the State Fire Marshall’s office is still investigating it.”

According to McAliley, Lisa McLendon, had recently been suspended from her job at Pilgrim’s Pride.

“We know that Michael McLendon had lived here on and off with his mother, but he also was raised by his family members that are now deceased.”

A neighbor of the McLendon’s, Junior Chambers, said he spoke with the assailant within an hour before the first killing began.

“Lisa McLendon had left me a note about plowing up her garden for her,” Chambers said. “She said her tiller was broken, so I went up to the house around 2 p.m. Michael was there and a maroon car was sitting in the driveway. I told him about his mother wanting me to till up the garden and we walked to the back of the house and I looked at the tiller. We just talked about the garden. He seemed fine. He didn’t seem like anything was out of the ordinary, but I didn’t see Lisa at all.”

Chambers said about an hour later, “a man driving by their house see smoke and he came up to my house and was blowing the horn. He told me their house was on fire and I told him to call 911 and then I drove down there. I saw smoke and flames coming out of a window where the living room was. We didn’t know anyone was at home.”

Officials said after the Ino and Kinston Volunteer Fire Departments were on the scene, one of the firemen discovered the mother’s body.

McLendon, after leaving the house, went on to kill 10 others and himself in the Samson and Geneva areas.

McAliley said other items were also found in the home, including various camping supplies, medical supplies, and rations.

“It looked like he had everything ready to go in case he came back,” he said. “We don’t know why he didn’t take all this with him, but we really don’t know his true intentions about anything or what made him do what he did. We never thought this would happen here.”

According to the Coffee County Sheriff’s Department, McLendon had obtained a current pistol permit.

Monday night, the bodies of the nine shooting victims and McLendon’s body, was taken to the mother’s house in Kinston by Coffee County’s Mobile Morgue late Monday night. The bodies were then transported to the Department of Forensic Science in Montgomery for autopsies.

The mother’s body, Holley said, was the last to be transported.

Ironically, during the day Monday, McAliley and Holley were in Montgomery to help introduce a bill to the Legislature to increase the monies for bodies to be transported to the DFS.

“We were in Montgomery Monday and with the assistance of state Sen. Jimmy Holley and state Rep. Terry Spicer, we were trying to get a transportation bill through. Until February, the state would carry bodies to the DFS, but they will no longer do that due to funding cuts. Coffee County just received our Mobile Morgue in January, but we never thought we’d have to use it so soon.”