THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

June 8, 2003

Fayette, Ala. - A teenager being booked at a small-town police station grabbed an officer's gun and opened fire early yesterday, killing two officers and a dispatcher before fleeing in a police car, authorities said.

The cruiser was spotted about 31/2 hours later, about 10 miles beyond the state line in Mississippi, and the driver was arrested, said Lowndes County, Miss., Sheriff's Deputy Tony Mulligan.

The suspect, identified in Mississippi jail records as Devan Darnel Moore, 18, will be charged with capital murder, said Chris McCool, district attorney for Fayette County.

The shootings stunned this quiet community of 5,000, an old textile town where many people work in small manufacturing plants near Alabama's hilly coal country.

Moore, who grew up in Fayette but graduated from high school in neighboring Walker County two weeks ago, was well known in town because his older brother, Michael Moore, played football at the University of Alabama and is now with the Frankfurt Galaxy of NFL Europe.

"I never saw anything to make me think he'd be a mass murderer," said teacher Ron Hannah, adding that the younger Moore also had once played football. "He was just a normal kid."

Moore's father, Kenneth Moore, said his younger son had had a troubled past but he thought he had turned things around when he graduated and announced he would join the Air Force. "The people here that I've been talking to, I told he needs help," Kenneth Moore said.

Officials said Moore was being booked on suspicion of driving a stolen vehicle when the gunfire erupted inside the one-story, brick police station about 5:30 a.m. local time. A firefighter heard the shots from the adjoining fire station and rushed into the Police Department. The men were dead, and the suspect already was gone, Mayor Ron Nelson said.

City Councilman Cedric Wilson said those killed were Cpl. James Crump, Officer Arnold Strickland and dispatcher Ace Mealer.

Nelson said that the suspect had been handcuffed after being stopped about 3 a.m., but that the handcuffs could have been removed during fingerprinting. "There was a struggle," Nelson said, and an officer's weapon was taken.

Nelson said the department had 14 officers before the shooting. "This is a tragedy for our community," he said.

Kenneth Moore said he sent his son to live with the young man's mother two years ago because he couldn't control him. He said his son would often steal his car, and last year his mother found a gun in the house.
Copyright © 2003, Newsday, Inc.

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Fayette Police Department
Chief Euel Hall
118 First Avenue NE
Fayette, AL  35555
(205) 932-5312