Missouri man charged with shooting at vehicles, wounding 6


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JOPLIN, Mo. (AP) — A southwest Missouri man is charged in two counties after shootings that wounded six people and two dogs in what police believe were random attacks.

Tom S. Mourning II, 26, of Joplin, was charged Saturday in Jasper and Newton counties with multiple counts of armed criminal action, first-degree felony assault and unlawful use of a weapon. He was being held Sunday in lieu of $1 million bond in Jasper County and $300,000 bond in Newton County.

The incident began just after 5 a.m. Saturday when Mourning's father called police to report shots had been fired in the duplex where he and his son lived.

Officers caught up with Mourning around 5:10 a.m. and were preparing to stop him 14 blocks from his home when he pulled up behind an Immanuel Lutheran Church van at an intersection and started shooting, police said.

The van was on its way to St. Louis for a meeting about the church's comfort dog ministry, the Joplin Globe (http://bit.ly/2bfMciv ) reported.

The driver of the van, Kenneth Eby, was shot in the lung and was in critical condition Saturday night at an area hospital. Joplin police spokesman Capt. Bob Higginbotham said Sunday he would have been notified if Eby's condition had gotten worse, but he hadn't.

One woman in the van was shot in the arm, a boy suffered a graze wound, and a woman was hit by shrapnel, police said. Two comfort dogs in the van also were hit but are expected to survive.

After that shooting, Mourning drove into portions of Joplin that are in Newton County and stopped at an intersection where he fired multiple shots at a pickup truck waiting to make a left turn from oncoming traffic, police said.

The driver of the pickup was struck with two bullets and his wife was hit by shrapnel, police said. Deborah Pugh initially thought her husband, Donal Pugh, would be released from the hospital Sunday, but doctors found one of his arteries was nearly 100 percent blocked and were putting in a stent that could keep him hospitalized for a few more days, a Freeman Hospital spokeswoman said.

Officers continued pursuing Mourning, who made a U-turn and eventually slowed his vehicle and gave himself up at 5:22 a.m., police said.

No motive for the shootings has been determined, and there seems to be no relation between the suspect and the victims, police said.

"It will always be a form of speculation as to the motive when someone hits random targets," Higginbotham said.

Mourning "has had history" with Joplin police, Higginbotham said. A mugshot of Mourning that police released on Saturday was an older one for a drunken driving arrest, he said.

A handgun and rifle were recovered Saturday from Mourning's car, police said. Higginbotham said police don't know yet if Mourning is licensed to carry or if the guns were registered to him.

Mourning is being held on $1 million bond in Jasper County, of which $750,000 would have to be in surety and $250,000 would have to be in cash. The charges in Newton County resulted in a $300,000 cash-only bond.

Higginbotham said it didn't appear that Mourning had obtained an attorney.

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