Illinois

Police: 3 women gunned down while in car with kids:

Reason to Blow Up the World...

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. (AP) — Investigators on Sunday captured a man they believe opened fire on a car parked at a gas station, killing three women, including an acquaintance of the suspect, state investigators said. Children inside the bullet-riddled vehicle escaped harm.

All the wounded in Saturday night's shooting outside the Crown Food Mart in East St. Louis were shot several times, mostly in the torso, and died later at a hospital, Illinois State Police Lt. James Morrisey said. At least one victim knew the gunman, Morrisey said, though the precise relationship was not clear.

Jay Makhluf, a co-owner of the convenience store, told The Associated Press he was working behind the counter when he heard what sounded like about 14 gunshots.

"He just emptied the whole gun," said Makhluf, who hustled outside to offer medical assistance but quickly found it was futile. "The women were already dead. It didn't take long for them to die. They were shot in the head, in the chest, in the neck. It's sick."

Makhluf said it looked like one of the women had covered a child with her body to shield the youngster.

Police in neighboring St. Louis arrested the suspect Sunday night at an apartment after an intensive search for the white, four-door 1993 Mercury Grand Marquis he supposedly drove to and from the shooting, Morrisey said.

The suspect's name was not released because charges had not been filed.

Their ages and relationships to the slain women — Canikia Harvey, 26, Raykel Gathing, 26, Jaimaca McDaniel, 24, all of East St. Louis — were not readily available.

Morrisey said the women and children were sitting in a car about 9:30 p.m. Saturday on the convenience store's lot when the suspect drove up, exchanged words briefly with at least one of the women and began firing with a handgun. The shooter then sped away, Morrisey said.

There's more...

Three mothers of young children are murdered Saturday night at a gas station in East St. Louis. A suspect is in custody and charges are pending. The murders that took minutes to execute will leave life long scars. The gas station murders of three friends are devastating for relatives. Emogene McDaniel says her daughter, Jamaica, was targeted because the 24 year old broke up with the suspect.

Emogene McDaniel says, "She stopped dating him because he was abusive."

Jamaica's one and two year old sons were next to her in the back seat. Tanikia Harvey, 26, was driving. Her 8 year old son was in the hatchback. Raykel Gathing, 26, and her one year old son were passengers in the front.

All three of the women were close friends. Harvey, a 26-year-old mother, was shot once in the head in front of her 8-year-old son, Jared. Another bullet lodged in her back. Harvey hopes his grandson isn't left permanently scarred by what happened. The second grader at Miles D. Davis Elementary School gave police vital information that led to the shooter's capture, like a description of the car and the shooter.

One of the biggest signs of a coward is someone who uses such extreme violence to hide their own inadequacies.

One point for each of the women you killed (3), another point for each of the children you left without a mother (4), another point for being an abusive bastard, one more point for being such a coward, and one last point for having to resort to a gun because you couldn't keep a woman. That's 9.