Gunman kills five at US council

The mayor was critically injured in the rampage.

The victims at the meeting on Thursday night in suburban St Louis were killed after the gunman rushed the council chambers and began firing as he yelled "Shoot the mayor!" according to police spokeswoman Tracy Panus. Two people were wounded before Kirkwood police fatally shot him, she said.

Ms Panus said the names of the victims would not be released until a news conference on Friday morning. But the wounded included Mayor Mike Swoboda, who was in a critical condition late on Thursday in the intensive care unit of St John's Mercy Hospital in Creve Coeur. Another victim, Suburban Journals newspaper reporter Todd Smith, was in satisfactory condition.

The gunman killed one officer outside City Hall, then walked into the chambers and shot another before continuing to fire, Ms Panus said.

Janet McNichols, a reporter covering the meeting for the St Louis Post-Dispatch, told the newspaper the 7pm meeting with about 30 people had just started when the gunman rushed in and opened fire with at least one weapon. He started yelling about shooting the mayor while walking around and firing, hitting police officer Tom Ballman in the head, she said.

Public Works Director Kenneth Yost was shot in the head, and council members Michael HT Lynch and Connie Karr also were hit, she said.

The gunman also fired at City Attorney John Hessel, who tried to fight off the attacker by throwing chairs, Ms McNichols told the newspaper. The shooter then moved behind the desk where the council sits and fired more shots at council members, she said.

"Tonight our fellow Missourians in the city of Kirkwood were terrorised by a senseless and horrific crime at an open government meeting," Governor Matt Blunt said in a statement. "I join Missourians in praying for the victims, their families and friends, and everyone in the community of Kirkwood."

Police have not named the gunman, but Ms McNichols identified him as Charles Lee "Cookie" Thornton, whom she knows from covering the council. Thornton had previously disrupted meetings, she told the Post-Dispatch.