Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Gunman kills self after killing 1, wounding 2

He leaves his former brother-in-law dead and his ex-wife in critical condition.

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published May 5, 2006

FERNANDINA BEACH - A gunman with a history of domestic violence fatally shot his former brother-in-law and wounded his ex-wife and her sister in a hospital parking lot Thursday before killing himself outside a nearby school.

Denny O'Dell Taylor Sr., 60, of Fernandina Beach, died when he shot himself in the head, soon after killing Roy E. Rogers, 67, in the parking lot of Baptist Medical Center-Nassau, said Nassau County Sheriff Tommy Seagraves.

Taylor's ex-wife, Frances Stephens Taylor, 55, was shot in the head and was in critical condition. Rogers' wife, Sara C. Rogers, 57, was in serious condition. The women, who are sisters, were taken to Shands Jacksonville hospital.

An injunction had been served on Taylor ordering him to stay away from his former wife and her sister. There had been other violence in the family, Seagraves said.

Taylor shot himself in the parking lot of Emma Love Hardee Elementary School as deputies responded, Seagraves said. It wasn't clear why he went to the school.

The school was briefly put on lockdown but parents were allowed to pick up their children early, said a spokeswoman for Nassau County schools. It wasn't clear whether any of the 400 students witnessed the suicide.

Phyllis Kay, who picked up her 10-year-old son at the school, said she was told school administrators did not tell the students what had happened.

"I'm just upset about it, shook up about the whole thing," Kay said.

Sandra Loper, a teacher's aide, said the students were locked into rooms after a shot was heard.

Dr. Alex Alarena, a physician at Baptist Medical Center-Nassau, said the shootings were a shock to Fernandina Beach, a wealthy resort area about 35 miles northeast of Jacksonville.

"You don't expect it to happen here, but it can happen anywhere, any time," Alarena said.

[Last modified May 5, 2006, 02:30:26]