The title of this ABC News article is "Cops Close to Motive in Murderous Rampage; Ala. gunman turns towns into slaughterhouses". There has been a horrific murder/killing spree in a small Alabama town.

Based on the information we have, it doesn't seem as if police are close to finding a motive. First, let's look at precisely what happened. "McClendon's murderous spree began with the execution-style killing of his mother and ended at Reliant Metals where he was cornered by police and shot himself in the head". This is a murder-suicide, eerily similar to the Virginia Tech massacre on April 16, 2007 in which 32 innocent people were killed in cold blood. The only difference is that, in this killing spree, there was no need to use padlocks to prevent people from escaping because many of these people were quietly going about their business out in the open, only to be ruthlessly killed by a homicidal lunatic.

The way these people were killed in cold blood is chilling and the stories of the victims are wrenching. According to Coffee County Assistant District Attorney Tom Anderson, "He had jotted down notes for having been reported by employees for a job-related infraction or for being reprimanded. He was obviously upset with them", so upset in fact that he murdered people in cold blood. McClendon's list included "the names of co-workers and some supervisors" whom he held a grudge against.

According to Coffee County coroner Robert Preachers, "He cleaned his family out. We don't know what triggered it". Most of us are also befuddled.

According to District Attorney Gary McAliley, McClendon's targets included many people "who had done him wrong". This man is in a class of extremists who fight against people they disagree with, even if that disagreement was over a very minor or trivial issue.

According to Kirke Adams, District Attorney for Geneva and Dale Counties, speaking to the Associated Press, "He had plenty of ammo and other weapons and he appeared to be going to do some damage there". In other words, this was meticulously planned. It was not planned hastily or haphazardly. "there" refers to Reliant Metals where McClendon worked in 2003.

According to Alabama state trooper John Reese, "We are still unclear of what caused the incident". The key word is "unclear" and the hardest word for vicitims and their families to deal with in the face of tragedies like this is uncertainty.

As far as Lisa McClendon is concerned, Anderson said "She was shot in the head". Another vivid description of a gruesome event.

It gets worse. According to ABC, "The woman was found lying face down on her couch. Anderson said her body was covered by the corpses of her three dogs, apparently shot by McLendon and covered up with a pile of clothes. She was doused with an acclerant and the couch was set on fire, he said". Not only was this a murder-suicide. As if this wasn't gruesome enough, McLendon was also an arsonist.

Then, "Police say the heavily-armed MClendon then got into his car and drove through two towns, stopping or slowing down to fire at people on their front porches, at a gas station or on the street". This was done to ensure that the highest number of people could be killed. The victims could not have imagined that a muderous lunatic was on a killing spree when they were killed or critically injured.

According to Geneva police chief Frankie Lindsey, "He opened up on us with an AK-47. It could have been an M-16, but it was an assault rifle, automatic. And he burst about 15 to 18 rounds on our vehicle, all at once. It looked like he was trying to kill us. There's no doubt about it. He just put the weapon out the window and let go a burst. The vest comes in(to) play, I promise you". Lindsey was lucky to only take some shrapnel to his shoulder. The bullet-proof vest definitely saved his life.

In addition to his mother, MClendon drove 12 miles to Samson, where "he mowed down several (more) of his own family members as they sat on a porch. Among the dead were an uncle, a cousin and a nephew". We have to ask another question that will probably never be answered, at least not sufficiently enough. If MClendon was having trouble/problems at work, why did he take his anger out on people who had nothing to do with the situation (i.e. any of his jobs)? The other disturbing thing is that these folks were killed "as they sat on a porch". Again, they could not have predicted/foreseen what was about to happen to them.

Other victims included Andrea Myer and her 18-month old daughter Corinne. They were "the wife and daughter of a Geneva County sherriff's deputy. The two had stopped by to visit on their neighbor's front porch. Only a 4-month baby, Ella, covered in her mother's blood, survived the onslaught". OK, it's one thing to kill grownups because they have the potential to harm, but the fact that innocent children were killed in this massacre means that MClendon should now burn in hell.

"He sprayed bullets through the town. He then shot his 74-year-old grandmother next door". OK, we may not always be on the same page as our grandparents, but surely they would want us to be happy, productive and healthy and the fact that MClendon would do this to his grandmother...there are no words to describe what he did except 'hideous' and 'disgraceful'.

According to Barry Aplin, speaking to the Dothan Eagle newspaper, "I saw him in the living room just blazing the world up".

"The gunman then got into his car and began driving around the tiny town, shooting at anyone who unfortunately caught his attention". This included ANYONE WHO HAPPENED TO BE ON THE STREET when he drove by.

According to Adams, "He sprayed bullets through the town".

"Sonya Smith, 43, was shot when she stepped out a gas station. Another motorist, Bruce Malloy, was killed as he drove past MClendon. James Starling, 24, was sprayed with bullets as he tried to run away". At first, MClendon seemed to be focusing on revenge killings. After he finished those revenge killings, he started shooting at anyone he could find. Again, these were people who thought that nothing was going to happen because they were simply filling up their gas tanks. Unfortunately, they were wrong...very wrong. They were filling up their tanks...and they were killed.

According to Adams, "In a cowardly act, he shot him in the back".

According to David Bradley, owner of Bradley TrueValue Hardware Store, where MClendon fired 12 rounds before speeding away, "We were just (doing) business as normal and all of a sudden, there were bullets flying and glass was everywhere. We realized what it was and grabbed our guns, but then he was gone". 'Hit-and-run' with a gun. Fortunately, no one was hurt in the hardware store.

Adams: "There's a lot of people who had close calls".

Greg McCullough had a close call as he was pumping gas at a gas station: "..the gunman roared into the parking lot and slammed on his brakes". McCullough was now clearly on a mission: to kill as many people as possible.

McCullough: "I first thought (that) it was somebody playing". When McCullough heard the explosions and the gunfire, he realized that this was not a joke or a game.

"MClendon opened fire, killing Smith and wounding McCullough with bullet fragments that struck his truck and the pump (Fortunately, the pump didn't catch fire). At one point the rifle appeared to jam and then MClendon fired more shots before driving off (to his next target/intended destination)".

According to Smith's friend, Debra Hill, "She was a really good person. She was getting ready to go to work". Hill was talking about Smith's 17-year-old daughter who had recently graduated from high school. When we hear these gut-wrenching stories of young lives cut short or devastated, tragedies really hit home.

In additrion, "In Geneva, MClendon let loose with a volley at a Wal-Mart..."

Josh Myers' wife and infant daughter were killed during the rampage: "We get trained to handle something like this...but this was something that was never expected. I cried so much yesterday I don't have a tear left me. I never in my life will be able to understand it. I don't know how to handle this situation". Myers was one of the officers who was chasing McCullough when he got that phone call that his wife and baby daughter had been fatally shot. Myers like the rest of us are now asking what we have always asked after a tragedy like this. We asked it after the Columbine massacre in 1999 and again after the Virginia Tech massacre in 2007: Why? Why did this gunman have to take the lives of so many innocent people? We thought gun violence couldn't possibly get any worse after the 1999 Columbine massacre and again after the horrific Virginia Tech massacre on April 16, 2007 and every time we thought that, something worse actually happened. The Columbine murderers and Seung Hui-cho only killed people on campus. Yes those murders are horrific but it cannot compare to a murderous lunatic DRIVING THROUGH SEVERAL TOWNS AND KILLING PEOPLE IN COLD BLOOD just because of a job that didn't quite go as he had anticipated/expected.