Police Shoot and Kill Hostage Taker After 9-Hour Standoff at U.S. College

By Woody Baird

The Associated Press

Published: September 19, 2003 (Issue # 903)

DYERSBURG, Tennessee - A gunman held at least a dozen people hostage in a college classroom before he was shot and killed by police after a nine-hour standoff. Two hostages were wounded.

Police rushed into the building at Dyersburg State Community College around 10 p.m. after hearing shots. Authorities said the gunman, 26-year-old Harold Kilpatrick Jr., had left a note saying he "wanted to kill some people and die today."

Dyersburg Police Chief Bobby Williamson initially said Kilpatrick fatally shot himself, but he later confirmed that officers shot him.

"Our people shot one - the hostage-taker - and two others were wounded," Williamson said.

Four ambulances were at the college building in Dyersburg, about 120 kilometers northeast of Memphis. Three people were carried out of the building on stretchers. Police escorted several other people from the building.

The gunman, believed to have had a 9-millimeter pistol and what looked like a butcher knife, made no demands - aside from food and drink - in the standoff.

Authorities said Kilpatrick, of Memphis, was staying with his sister in Dyersburg. In the suicide note, left at his sister's house, he also said he didn't like Americans and had spoken with al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.

Justice Department officials in Washington also said they had no evidence that the gunman was a member of the terrorist organization.