Daingerfield church shooting

Mass shooting in Texas

33°01′52″N 94°43′24″W / 33.03110°N 94.72327°W / 33.03110; -94.72327DateJune 22, 1980

Attack type

Mass murder, mass shootingWeapons

M1 carbine with bayonet
Röhm RG-10 .22-caliber revolver
Smith & Wesson Model 10 .38-caliber revolver
Colt AR-15 SP1 Rifle with telescopic sight and bayonet

Deaths5Injured11 (including the perpetrator)PerpetratorAlvin Lee King IIIMotiveReligious hate crime

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.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]

Victims

Gene Gandy, 50^[3]
Gina Linam, 7^[3]
J.Y. "Red" McDaniel, 49^[3]
Thelma Richardson, 78^[3]
Kenneth Truitt, 49^[3]

Additionally, Arthur Greaves, 69, Robert Jack Dean, 56, and Laverne McDaniel were injured during the shooting.^[3]^[4]

In popular culture

Faith Under Fire (2012)

Law & Order, Season 1, Episode 18 - "The Secret Sharers" (1991)

Linam, Larry (2010). The Day the Angels Cried. AuthorHouse. ISBN 978-1449056865.

References

^ Ex-teacher accused of killing 5 hangs self, Star-News (January 20, 1982)
^ "This Is War!", Time (July 7, 1980)
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Five die in church shooting, Spokane Daily Chronicle (June 23, 1980)
^ ^a ^b Blood of the Lamb, Texas Monthly (March 1983)

External links

A History of Mass Violence: A KXAN Investigative Special
How A Small Texas Town Coped With A 1980 Church Shooting (HBO)
1980 Church Shooting In Daingerfield, TX | Jay Gormley
35th anniversary of Daingerfield church shooting
Survivors reflects on Daingerfield church shooting 40 years later
Laverne McDaniel Interview-Daingerfield church shooting 1980
King competency
King / comp
Blood of the Lamb
Shattered Sanctuary
Daingerfield knows church's pain after shooting
Two Texas Churches, Linked by Tragedy Amid the Pews
NEVER FORGOTTEN: Survivors reflect on Daingerfield church shooting 40 years later
1980 Daingerfield Church shooting
Targeting faith
East Texans remember church shooting
King
mass violence
mass violence
Power of Prayer: East Texas pastor guided spiritual healing after America’s first mass shooting in a church
Career in a Year Photos 1980: Gunman arraigned for Daingerfield church murders
Cawthorne, Nigel (5 May 2009). Spree Killers: Devastating Massacres by Unpredictable Gunmen. Hachette UK. ISBN 9780857653291.
"Texas Monthly". Texas Monthly. 3 (11). Emmis Communications: 224. March 1983. ISSN 0148-7736.
Five Die As Gunman Invades Tex. Church, Fires at Congregation
Church Prepares To Bury Its Dead
Nation: This Is War!