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SAMSON, Alabama: A disgruntled Alabama loner who killed 10 people this week in a three-town gun spree before committing suicide left behind a note detailing how he killed his mother, officials said Thursday.
Investigators described Michael Kenneth McLendon, 28, as a failed Marine and policeman who had lost his job and became embroiled in a bitter family dispute in the weeks leading up to Tuesday's vicious shooting rampage.
The killing spree was the worst in the southern state's history and residents were left reeling after the former factory worker killed a string of relatives and strangers, including his grandmother and an 18-month-old girl.
"McLendon left a letter that is in the possession of investigators, describing how he killed his mother and his intentions of taking his own life," said Christopher Murphy, head of the Alabama Department of Public Safety.
"The letter describes how McLendon harbored ill feelings toward family members due to a family dispute," he said in a statement.
McLendon, who lived with his mother, shot her in the head and covered her with blankets soaked in flammable liquid, which he then set ablaze before leaving the house, Coffee County District Attorney Gary McAliley told AFP.
He also shot his mother's three small dogs and arranged them near her head and feet, McAliley said.
His mother had recently lost her job at a meat-processing factory, and McLendon was involved in a longer running dispute with relatives over a family Bible which he wanted for himself, McAliley said.
While stressing that the rampage was an isolated incident, investigators described the gunman as a depressed loner who was interested in guns and survivalist techniques and had recently left his factory job for unknown reasons.
Ten years ago, he attempted to join the US Marines but was "discharged one month later for fraudulent enlistment," Murphy said. He was also briefly a cadet at the Montgomery Police Academy but was "released" after a month.
"McLendon made statements of being depressed and dissatisfied with his present position in life. His dream was to become a Marine and later a police officer. Both dreams were unfulfilled," said Murphy.
McLendon had no criminal record. He had stashed bags of survival gear, which he did not take with him on his shooting spree, and owned a bullet resistant vest which he was not wearing during the killings.
Those killed included his grandmother, his uncle, two of his cousins, and the wife and 18-month-old daughter of local sheriff's deputy as well as three strangers who were random victims of his gun-fueled rage.
McLendon committed suicide by shooting himself when police surrounded him at a factory where he had once worked, police said.
- AFP/yt
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