Criminal Details

The Dothan Eagle
Greg Phillips – Mar 14, 2009

In life, Bruce Maloy stayed out of the spotlight. In death, he became a hero.

Maloy was believed to be the last of Michael McLendon’s random victims, shot as he headed home after a day of work at Brooks Peanut Company in Samson.

But police now know Maloy was killed after the 51-year-old Samson resident made a desperate attempt to stop McLendon Tuesday afternoon before the gunman opened fire on the unarmed Maloy, leaving him dead on Alabama Highway 52.

And according to investigators and eyewitnesses, Maloy’s actions saved lives.

“He’s the entire reason I’m alive right now,” said Ashley Knowles, 22.

Knowles was heading to Samson from Hartford when she saw Maloy’s pickup truck heading toward her, racing alongside McLendon’s car.

She screamed as she saw Maloy ramming McLendon’s car, narrowly avoiding a head-on collision.

It wasn’t until later that she realized Maloy was saving her from an even worse fate.

“It looked like he was trying to push (McLendon) off the side of the road. When he saw me coming, he moved back over, because he didn’t anybody else to get hurt,” Knowles said. “Right there at my driver door, I had my window down, and I heard it when he crashed right into (McLendon’s) Eclipse. I saw the Eclipse go off the road, and then I just saw dust. I knew he was shooting. If it hadn’t been for Mr. Maloy, he could’ve shot me dead.”

Investigators say Maloy may have witnessed McLendon shoot two people at the Inland Big/Little Store, and he was moved to respond.

Gary Wigginton was downtown at Samson Seed and Feed when he heard a hail of gunfire. Moments later, he saw McLendon’s Mitsubishi Eclipse at a traffic light facing east on Highway 52. Maloy was in his 1985 Isuzu Pup heading west. Wigginton said Maloy turned around and began to pursue McLendon before

Wigginton lost sight.

Greg Bowden knew Maloy for 25 years, and he was buying supplies from a downtown parts store that afternoon when Maloy’s pursuit of McLendon began.

“Undoubtedly he saw something that happened, knew that was the guy and took off after him,” Bowden said. “I saw a red car go by, and Bruce was right behind chasing him.”

Witnesses estimate the speed of the chase at 70 mph through the town.

Craig Harrison was standing by the roadside with a customer at his store when he saw his former employee, Maloy, drive by at an uncharacteristically high speed.

“Me and a customer were going outside, and we heard shots,” Harrison said. “There came the shooter’s car, and Bruce’s truck was not two car lengths behind him. When they passed, I told the customer something had happened, because that boy never drove fast. He took his time. You could tell Bruce was pursuing him.”

Just a few moments later, Harrison heard two more shots, then saw the chase continue across the nearby railroad tracks.

Soon after Knowles encountered the two men in the midst of their chase, Maloy’s attempt at stopping McLendon came to an end.

Based on evidence collected at the crime scene, Alabama Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Tim Rodgers said it appears McLendon was able to pull ahead of Maloy, stop, exit the car and wait on Maloy. Skid marks indicate Maloy locked his breaks, then slammed into the back of McLendon’s car. McLendon fired at least four rounds into the vehicle, then continued toward Geneva.

By the time he reached Geneva, however, police had set up a roadblock, and other nearby agencies were en route.

“What Mr. Maloy did was slow the shooter down enough that law enforcement could get to him before he even got to Geneva, so he had to worry more about police than more civilians,” said Corporal Darrell Smith of the Samson Police Department. “He ran him down on his pickup truck and was enagaging him with his truck, trying to cause the guy to wreck. Unfortunately, it ultimately cost him his life.”

Maloy’s actions may have saved lives in Samson as well.

“If (McLendon) took time to stop at the Big/Little and get out and shoot some people, it’s my belief that if Bruce hadn’t been chasing him, he’d have taken more time at that sidewalk by the True Value Hardware and more people would have been killed,” Bowden said. “He could’ve shot people down here or he could’ve turned off on a side road and killed more folks. I believe Bruce saved a lot of lives.”

Harrison says he wouldn’t be alive today without Maloy’s heroism.

“In my view and the customer who was out there with me, it sure looks like Bruce in pursuing the shooter may have kept him from shooting in our direction,” Harrison said. “There’s no telling, between here and the Mexican restaurant and the Subway and Dollar General, what he would have done if he hadn’t been preoccupied by a vehicle following him. I wonder if we would’ve been two more of the victims if Bruce hadn’t been pursuing him. That’s constantly been a thought running through my mind.”

Those who knew him say Maloy kept mostly to himself, though he always tried to make people laugh.

“He always wanted to be liked. He was a real comedian-type guy,” Harrison said. “He was a good worker and an excellent welder. In school, he was always bullied. Everybody picked on him and made fun of him. That’s what makes me admire more about what he was trying to do, because if anybody had a reason not to care, it was probably him.”

According to his friends, Maloy was always willing to lend a helping hand.

“He was an all-around good guy. He’d do anything for anybody,” Bowden said. “He was just that kind of guy.”

Maloy’s aunt, Reba Judson, said she was not surprised Maloy tried to stop McLendon.

“It makes me very proud of him. The loss still hurts, because that loss will always be there,” Judson said. “But knowing he tried to do something makes your heart swell up inside.”

The bystanders who witnessed Maloy’s courage Tuesday afternoon just wish he had survived to hear their gratitude.

“I would tell him thank you,” Knowles said. “I’m alive because of you.”

Maloy will be buried Wednesday at Shady Grove Assembly of God Church Cemetery.

Lance Griffin contributed to this article.

Geneva County Massacre

The victims were:

• Lisa White McLendon, 52, Michael McLendon’s mother
• James Alford White, 55, McLendon’s uncle
• Tracy Michelle Wise, 34, daughter of James White
• Dean James Wise, 15, son of Tracy Wise
• Virginia E. White, 74, McLendon’s grandmother
• Andrea Dawn Myers, 31
• Corrine Gracy Myers, 18 months, daughter of Andrea Myers
• James Irvin Starling, 24
• Sonya Lolley Smith, 43
• Bruce Wilson Maloy, 51

FindAGrave.com
Don Atwell – Mar. 12, 2009
View on FindAGrave.com

Alabama Department of Public Safety

MONTGOMERY – State, federal and local investigators responding to the multiple homicides March 10 in south Alabama are piecing together the sequence of events that resulted in the shooting deaths of 10 victims, the injury of six individuals, and the death of the suspect from a self-inflicted gunshot. Investigators also are working to determine a motive for the deadly attacks.

The gunman has been identified as Michael Kenneth McLendon, 28, of Coffee County.

We believe the attacks began at McLendon’s mother’s residence in Coffee County on County Road 474 in Kinston, where McLendon also lived. The body of a woman was discovered at the residence at approximately 3:30 p.m. when local firefighters responded to witness reports of a fire at that location. The Department of Forensic Sciences is working to confirm the identity, but the victim is believed to be Lisa White McLendon, 52, McLendon’s mother.

McLendon then traveled to Samson in Geneva County, where he shot and killed five individuals on the front porch of his uncle’s residence on West Pullum Street. The victims are identified as:

• Corrine Gracy Myers, 18 months, the daughter of Geneva County Deputy Josh Myers
• Andrea D. Myers, 31, mother of the 18-month-old and wife of Deputy Myers
• James Alford White, 55, identified as McLendon’s uncle
• Tracy Michelle Wise, 34, identified as McLendon’s cousin
• Dean James Wise, 15, identified as Ms. Wise’s son and McLendon’s second cousin

Injured at that residence was 4-month-old Ella K. Myers, the daughter of Deputy Myers. Ella was transported by LifeFlight to Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola. This morning she was listed in stable condition and scheduled for surgery.

McLendon then shot and killed Virginia E. White, 74, identified as McLendon’s grandmother, who was standing in the doorway of her home on Pullum Street, next door to the residence where the first attack occurred.

McLendon then left Pullum Street, traveling north on Wise Street in a red 2003 Mitsubishi. On Wise Street, McLendon shot and killed a pedestrian, James Irvin Starling, 24. McLendon continued north onto Main Street in Samson, where he shot and injured Jeffrey Lynn Nelson, 50.

McLendon then traveled to the Inland Gas Station on Main Street in Samson, where he shot and killed Sonja Smith, 43. Injured at that location was Greg McCullough, 49. McLendon continued traveling east on Alabama 52, firing rounds into several businesses and vehicles as he drove.

At 4:01 p.m. CDT, an Alabama state trooper notified the Dothan State Trooper Post that he had received a report of a subject shooting at people in Samson, and the trooper proceeded toward Samson on Alabama 52.

McLendon, traveling east on Highway 52 toward Geneva, then shot and killed Bruce Wilson Malloy, 51, who was traveling in a vehicle on 52.

At 4:06 p.m. CDT, the Alabama state trooper encountered McLendon on Alabama 52, and McLendon fired at least seven rounds into the trooper’s vehicle. The trooper, Mike Gillis, was injured slightly by broken glass, and continued the pursuit on McLendon into Geneva.

The Geneva Police Department attempted to stop McLendon using a PIT, or pursuit intervention maneuver, in front of the Wal-Mart in Geneva. McLendon fired several rounds into the officer’s vehicle, injuring him with glass fragments. Geneva Police Chief Frankie Lindsey attempted to block McLendon’s exit from the area, at which time McLendon fired several rounds at the chief. Chief Lindsey was wounded in the shoulder.

McLendon continued on Highway 52, turned onto Maple Avenue in Geneva, and then onto Highway 27 north. He stopped at Reliable Products in Geneva at 4:17 p.m., where he exited his vehicle. McLendon exchanged fire with a Geneva County deputy and a state Conservation officer before entering the Reliable Products building. Within minutes, gunshots were heard, and McLendon was discovered dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

McLendon was employed at Kelley Foods of Alabama. We have identified that in 2003, he was briefly employed as a police officer in Samson, but failed to complete required training at the police academy in Montgomery. He had no known criminal record.

McLendon was armed with two assault rifles, an SKS and a Bushmaster, using high-capacity magazines taped together; a shotgun; and a .38-caliber handgun. At this time we believe that he fired in excess of 200 rounds during the assaults.

In addition to the Alabama Department of Public Safety, agencies participating in the investigation are the Geneva County Sheriff’s Department, Geneva Police Department, Samson Police Department, Coffee County Sheriff’s Department, Dothan Police Department, Dale County Sheriff’s Department, Andalusia Police Department, Covington County Sheriff’s Department, New Brockton Police Department, Ozark Police Department, State Fire Marshal, Alabama Beverage Control Board, Conservation and Natural Resources, Department of Forensic Sciences, Emergency Management Agency, Alabama Power Company investigators, the FBI, ATF, and Ft. Rucker Police Department.

Other News Links

March 2009 – V.O.C.A.L. Samson Massacre Story

March 11, 2009 1am – CNN.com

March 11, 2009 10pm – CNN.com

March 11, 2009 – ABCNEWS.com

March 11, 2009 – NYTimes.com

Wikipedia – Geneva County Massacre

Michael McLendon – Murderpedia.com