1996 Jackson firehouse shooting

Mass shooting in Mississippi, US December 2025 July 2021 1996 Jackson firehouse shooting Jackson, Mississippi, US 32.2948 -90.1854 inline,title April 24, 1996 Mass murder, mass shooting 5 (including the perpetrator's wife at home) 3 Kenneth Tornes * 9mm Intratec TEC-9 semi-automatic pistol 9mm Cobray MAC-11/9 semi-automatic rifle .45-caliber semi-automatic pistolhttps://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1996/04/25/firefighter-kills-wife-four-colleagues-before-being-wounded/f5b9eab9-d1cc-4c59-b2db-d664fe68c611/ Firefighter kills wife, four colleagues before being wounded The Washington Post April 24, 1996 Revenge Death Capital murder The 1996 Jackson firehouse shooting was a mass murder that took place on April 24, 1996, at a firehouse in Jackson, Mississippi, United States. 32-year-old firefighter Kenneth Tornes fatally shot four of his supervisors, after killing his wife earlier that day. Event Early in the morning of April 24, 1996, Tornes went to the home of his estranged wife Glenda, 42. Neighbors heard gunshots, but weren't alarmed until they spotted Tornes washing blood off of himself in the home's carport. As police approached the home, Tornes set out for fire department headquarters. He passed a coworker shouting "Lady, get back, I am going to blow the place up!" He was armed with a rifle and walked from office to office, killing four supervisors and wounding two others. Tornes felt slighted by department officials, who had recently reprimanded Tornes multiple times, which Tornes felt were undeserved. The firefighters' union chief said Tornes was "a time bomb waiting to go off". Other coworkers expressed expectancy: "He's been talking about this for years... I'm surprised it took so long." Tornes specifically targeted his superiors; Tornes walked past one coworker who pleaded for his life, and told another to get themselves and their fire-dog out of the way. Tornes victims were: Captain Merideth Moree, 49; District Chief Dwight Craft, 48; Captain Stan Adams, 45; and District Chief Rick Robbins, 47.Associated Press 1996-04-25 Fireman was 'time bomb waiting' https://www.deseret.com/1996/4/25/19238561/fireman-was-time-bomb-waiting live https://web.archive.org/web/20210629050809/https://www.deseret.com/1996/4/25/19238561/fireman-was-time-bomb-waiting 2021-06-29 2021-06-27 Deseret News After departing the fire station, Tornes led police officers on a high-speed chase to the parking lot of a nearby shopping center in Ridgeland, Mississippi. Tornes wounded one officer in a shootout before being shot in his left eye.Associated Press 1996-04-25 Firefighter Kills Wife and 4 Officials 145 37 The New York Times 50408 https://www.nytimes.com/1996/04/25/us/firefighter-kills-wife-and-4-officials.html 2021-06-27 0362-4331 He recovered, and was eventually tried and convicted for the slayings. He was sentenced to death on April 3, 1998, but died of a blood clot on death row on April 9, 2000, at the age of 36.Goldberg Carey 2000-12-27 7 Die in Rampage at Company; Co-Worker of Victims Arrested 150 1, 15 The New York Times 51615 https://www.nytimes.com/2000/12/27/us/7-die-in-rampage-at-company-co-worker-of-victims-arrested.html 2021-06-27 0362-4331Cleveland Tyler 2013-05-29 Downing: The Man With the Answers https://www.mississippifreepress.org/downing-the-man-with-the-answers/ https://archive.today/20250803214312/https://www.mississippifreepress.org/downing-the-man-with-the-answers/ August 3, 2025 2025-08-03 Mississippi Free Press en-US Perpetrator Kenneth Tornes (March 8, 1964 - April 9, 2000) was a Jackson native, who neighbors and childhood friends had generally referred to as competent at his job. He was seen as broadly likable, though prone to mood shifts. Friends recalled his preoccupation with physical fitness, and his affinity for cartoons and The Terminator. Those who knew him noted his propensity for violent mood swings, and an irascibility that had reached fever pitch in the days before the shooting. Weeks before, white supremacist Larry Shoemake had shot multiple people at a Jackson mall, killing one. Tornes joined the discussion to say that someone might do something that drastic to the fire department soon. In the leadup, a neighbor described him as "like a nut" and "real moody". Police were called to the ex-couple's shared home on a domestic violence call, but no charges resulted.Hughes Jay Regland Lee Brooks Tracyi 1996-04-25 5 killed in shooting rampage 1, 10 The Clarion-Ledger Jackson, Mississippi https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UZFS2jJ4b-4/WuH-f0T74hI/AAAAAAAAcLY/krVMu6I6yK8NCO5-Gbx5zxS2j0Phn_12wCLcBGAs/s1600/Tornes%2BClarion_Ledger_Thu__Apr_25__1996_.jpg 2021-06-29Zimmer Josh 1996-04-25 Friends, neighbors recall Tornes as moody 1, 10 The Clarion-Ledger Jackson, Mississippi https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UZFS2jJ4b-4/WuH-f0T74hI/AAAAAAAAcLY/krVMu6I6yK8NCO5-Gbx5zxS2j0Phn_12wCLcBGAs/s1600/Tornes%2BClarion_Ledger_Thu__Apr_25__1996_.jpg 2021-06-29 Tornes is also a suspect in the triple murder of Victoria Minor (18), her 2-week-old son Howard Minor and her boyfriend Clarence Harper Jr. (22) that occurred in Jackson on October 4, 1994. According to officials, ballistics matched one of the guns used by Tornes to the 1994 triple murders.1996-12-31 Clarion-Ledger from Jackson, Mississippi https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/183043005/ 2025-08-04 Newspapers.com en-UShttps://www.mississippifreepress.org/downing-the-man-with-the-answers/ Downing: The Man With the Answers Cleveland Tyler mississippifreepress.org May 29, 2013 References Category:1996 mass shootings in the United States Category:1996 murders in the United States Category:History of Jackson, Mississippi Category:1996 mass murders Category:Mass murders in Mississippi Category:Mass shootings in Mississippi Category:Workplace shootings in the United States Category:1990s mass murders in the United States Category:April 1996 crimes in the United States Category:1996 road incidents Category:Attacks on government buildings and structures in the United States Category:Attacks on buildings and structures in 1996 Category:Capital murder cases Category:Uxoricides in the United States Category:Violence against African-American women in Mississippi Category:Mass shootings involving semi-automatic pistols in the United States