2015 Tyrone shooting
The tiny community of Tyrone in Shannon County, Missouri is a close-knit town with most of the inhabitants related to each other. Their town’s population was 50 prior to 26 February 2015; after that day, they lost nine of their inhabitants in a related set of events. Eight were lost to gunshots from a .45 caliber handgun and one to cancer. The events have been documented sequentially based on the case files. The usual trigger that upsets the balance in the mind of a serial killer or a mass murderer is the end of an important relationship. The trigger in this case was no different. Alice L. Aldridge was a 74-year old grandmother who lived with her recluse youngest son, Jessie Aldridge. On 25 February 2015, Alice L. Aldridge passed away from her breast and lung cancer. Her son who resided with her had lost the only family that he had chosen to live with him. At the same time, the shock of the loss receded and anger started to set in. The sibling disputes, the arrogant cabinet store that refused to employ him and the cousin who had a fist fight with Jessie Aldridge sometime earlier.
The first of the reports of shootings came in the form of a 911 call made by a shocked teenager. She stated that she overheard someone shooting her parents, Gerald and Julie Aldridge. She ran out of the house and to the neighbor to make the call. The town had only 50 inhabitants hence, the police decided to visit the rest of the houses to ensure they are safe while other’s responded to Gerald Aldridge’s residence. Subsequently, the police found six other victims; all bearing similar cartridge type injuries. The striking similarities in the MO of the killer and the fact that they were all related to Jessie Aldridge could not be ignored as coincidence. The police then visited the residence of Jessie Aldridge and found his deceased mother. There were no signs of Jessie Aldridge or his pick-up truck. The police immediately put out an APB alert on Jessie Aldridge to all surrounding towns.
The survival of the older Mrs. Shiver provided the crucial breakthrough for the police. She identified the shooter as Jessie Aldridge. The Highway patrol situated a mobile command center shortly afterwards to apprehend the perpetrator. In the early hours of 27 February 2015, the perpetrator Jessie Aldridge was found in his pick-up truck with a single gunshot wound to the head. Beside him was a .45 caliber handgun; he had killed himself (The Kansas City Star, “Autopsy shows that mother of shooter in Missouri killing spree died of natural causes”). Alice L. Aldridge’s demise will never be forgotten for it took with it an entire generation of Alridges’ and Shivers’.
“Autopsy shows that mother of shooter in Missouri killing spree died of natural causes”. The Kansas City Star. 2015. Web. Accessed on 27 June 2015.
