User:Lord Gøn/William Bryan Cruse

William Bryan Cruse (November 21, 1927 - November 29, 2009) was an American mass murderer who killed six people and wounded ten others in Palm Bay, Florida on April 23, 1987.

Shooting
On April 23, 1987, at about 6:30 p.m., William Bryan Cruse (59-years-old at the time), armed with a Ruger Mini 14 .223-caliber semi-automatic rifle with 5 30-round magazines, which he purchased from Oaks Trading Post in Melbourne on March 21, 1987 (even though the store owner and manager declined to discuss the matter), a Winchester 20 gauge shotgun, with its origin unknown, and a .357-caliber Ruger Blackhawk revolver, which he had purchased at a Norwood, Ohio, gun shop in 1964, first shot a 14-year-old kid who was playing basketball in his driveway accross the street, and then got into his white 1970s late-modeled Toyota Tercel and headed for the nearest Publix supermarket.

He killed three people in the parking lot, two Kuwaiti students and a woman, but was unable to get into the store to kill more. Cruse got back into his car and headed for the nearby Winn-Dixie supermarket. As he started firing at the store, a cop arrived at the scene. Cruse sprayed the patrol car with seven rounds mortally wounding the officer.

A second officer unloaded his weapon on Cruse without hitting him. Cruse, on the other hand, first hit him on the leg before finishing him off as the frantic officer desperately tried to reload his weapon.

On a roll, Cruse proceeded into the supermarket shooting at anyone he saw. By the time he was done, Cruse had killed six people and wounded ten others.

As police surrounded the store he took an 18-year-old woman hostage who he found hiding in the women's restroom. After a six-hour siege, he let her go. A little later police swarmed into the store and arrested him.

Victims

 * Emad Mohamiad Al-Tawakuly, 18, of Kuwait, an FIT engineering student
 * Nabil Abdul Al-Hameli, 25, of Kuwait, a Florida Institute of Technology engineering student
 * Officer Gerald Douglas Johnson, 28, of Palm Bay
 * Officer Ronald Midgely Grogan, 27, of Palm Bay
 * Ruth Green, of Palm Bay
 * Lester Watson, 51, of Palm Bay

Trial and Imprisonment
Dead now.