Kentucky mother killed her 2 children, then brandished gun at college, police say
The threat at the University of Louisville ended with no injuries about half an hour after it began, but police who were then asked by school officials to check on the children found them dead with gunshot wounds.
Gail Lynn Coontz, 37, is charged with killing 14-year-old Greg Coontz and 10-year-old Nikki Coontz, said Louisville police Officer Phil Russell.
Gail Coontz was the armed student, said police Lt. Barry Wilkerson. She is in custody at the University of Louisville hospital but is expected to be transferred to jail, Russell said.
The woman was also charged with one count of terroristic threatening for pointing a handgun at an officer, said university police Maj. Kenny Brown. The woman gave her handgun to a counselor at the health services building, he said.
Police arrived at the building at 8:39 a.m., university spokeswoman Cindy Hess said.
The school sent safety alerts to student phones, cell phones and posted one on its Web site. The campus was not locked down, Hess said.
The neighborhood is normally quiet and the neighbors generally know one another, said neighbor Patty Schneider.
"It just all seems like it's going to be a bad dream and I'm going to wake up from it," said Schneider, who lives directly across the street. "How am I ever going to look out the front of my house again?"
A next-door neighbor, Sheryl Hayven, said police stopped by her house Thursday morning asking about the family. Hayven said detectives were asking when the children were last seen and whether she had heard anything.
"They were good neighbors," Hayven said. "It's just kind of a shock."
Associated Press writers Rebecca Yonker and Bruce Schreiner contributed to this report.
Recent comments
Wow, removing her arms seems a bit extreme, don't you think?<...
Smilin' Bob | March 27, 2008 at 12:24 p.m.
