Tragedy in Tyrone: The Rampage of Joseph Jesse Aldridge

Tyrone, Missouri, is a small, no-stoplight town 90 miles east of Springfield. With a population of about 50, there are no restaurants, stores, or even a school. The remote area, consisting mainly of mobile homes and small houses, was rocked to its core in February 2015. 

At 10:15 p.m. on February 27, 2015, a 15-year-old Tyrone resident called 911 from a neighbor's house. The neighbor (who wished not to be named) said she was barefoot, in a nightgown with no sleeves, and her legs were all scratched up from briars. The teen told the neighbor she saw a man in her dad’s bedroom, talking to him in a normal voice. She then heard gunshots and screaming, which is what made her run to the neighbor's house. She was terrified and unaware of the state of her parents. She just knew she had to get help. 

The local police rushed to the scene of the call. At the same time, another 911 call came in at 10:36 pm from Martha Shriver reporting another shooting at a home not far from the original call. She explained she and her husband had both been shot. 

One shooting, let alone four shooting victims, was completely unheard of in this area.  

But unfortunately, that wasn’t even half the destruction done in this small town that night. 

Sources:

Johnson, W. (2015, February 28). After massacre, shooter takes own life. The Springfield News-Leader, 1A, 6A.

Salter, J. (2015, February 28). Mother Dies, Killing Begins. Hartford Courant, A1, A6.

Gounley, T. (2015, March 1). Neighbor: Suspect 'just got too strange acting'. Springfield News-Leader, 1A, 5A.

"Man Kills 7, Self After House-to-house Rampage." The Lima News, 28 Feb. 2015, p. 4A.

"Mothers Death May Have Sparked Shooting Rampage: Officials." The Windsor Star, 28 Feb. 2015, p. 17.

Keegan, H. (2015, March 1). Tragedy in Tyrone Motive Still A Mystery. The Springfield News-Leader, 1A.

"Tiny Missouri Town Mourns After Gunman Kills 7, Then Himself." The Newnan Times-Herald, 1 Mar. 2015, p. 10.

Salter , J. (2015, April 10). Sheriff: Missouri shooter was drunk, had marijuana in system. Lake Sun Leader, 3.

"Town Altered After the Killings." St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 18 Oct. 2015, pp. A1, A14-A15.

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