Samson, AL – Hundreds of people filled a church in Samson for a memorial service for four of the 10 people who were slain during a shooting rampage in south Alabama last week.
The victims remembered Tuesday were all relatives of the alleged gunman, Michael McLendon. Pastors urged mourners to make Samson a town known for love rather than the violence that claimed so many lives.
A long funeral procession headed by emergency vehicles led four hearses through town after the memorial.
The joint service was held for McLendon's grandmother, 74-year-old Virginia Ett Wise White; his uncle, 55-year-old James Alfred White; a 34-year-old cousin, Tracy Michelle Wise; and her 15-year-old son, Dean James Wise.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)