Church Worker Kills 2 In Shooting

FORT WORTH, Texas - A church maintenance worker - armed with a rifle and two pistols - went on a shooting rampage at his south Fort Worth apartment complex yesterday morning, killing two children and wounding five people, police said.

The injured included a third child and a Fort Worth police officer. The two children who died - a 6-year-old girl and an 8-year-old boy - were shot "execution-style" in the back of the head, said police Lt. Eddie Pricer.

A 51-year-old man - who worked at Travis Avenue Baptist Church - was taken into custody immediately after the shootings about 9:30 a.m.

John Wheat was jailed on two counts of capital murder in the deaths of the children. He also was charged with five counts of attempted capital murder.

Witness Michele Lopez, 26, said the shootings began after the mother of the three children sent a note to the suspect accusing him of fondling the 6-year-old. Fort Worth police said they found a note from the mother in the suspect's apartment.

Apartment residents said the suspect was popular among neighbors and regularly baby-sat for Anderson's three children.

The mother, Angela Anderson, 28, was reported in critical condition yesterday. Her youngest child, a 20-month-old girl, also was reported in critical condition with a wound to the forehead.

Officer Angela Jay, an 11-year Police Department veteran, was shot in the shoulder, cheek and abdomen when she and her partner answered an emergency call. She was reported in stable condition last night.

Also wounded in the attack were Jesse Cranfield, 33, an apartment security guard, and a 19-year-old man who was shot as he tried to wave down police officers. His name was not released by police.

Cranfield was reported in critical condition late yesterday with multiple gunshot wounds. The 19-year-old was also in good condition.

Police and witnesses said the shootings began about 9:15 a.m. at the Les Jardin apartments.

Shortly before the shooting, Lopez said that Anderson asked her to come down to her apartment.

"When I got in there, she told me that . . . (the suspect) had molested" the little girl, she said. "Then she looked down at . . . (the girl) and told her to tell me what happened."

She said she urged Anderson to tell the police and began accompanying her upstairs to the apartment of another friend who had a telephone.

At the foot of the stairs, the two parted. "That's when I saw him come around the corner with a gun," Lopez said.

Witnesses said the gunman shot Anderson in the back as she reached the top of the stairs. Cranfield was shot in his doorway, police said.

The gunman then went downstairs to the mother's apartment, where he shot the three children.

Apartment-complex officials said he then began walking around the complex, firing his gun in the air and through windows.

When police officers arrived, the gunman lowered his rifle to his side and surrendered, police said.

Information from Associated Press is included in this report.