Gunman kills 8 at Florida mall; suspect held

PALM BAY, Fla. A man armed with high-powered rifles and handgunsopened fire at a shopping center here yesterday, killing at leasteight people, wounding 11 and holding hostages in a supermarket forseveral hours before he was arrested early today, authorities said.

"The man has been arrested," Police Lt. Candice Leek saidshortly after 2 a.m., more than 7 hours after the shooting began."They chased him down and subdued him. He is being brought to thestation right now."

The gunman, who was not identified, had released the last ofthree hostages about a half hour before his capture.

After their release, the man said he was going to kill himself,Leek said. But police fired tear gas canisters into a store where hewas hiding.

SWAT team members stormed in behind the cloud of gas, andauthorities said they found the gunman in the back of the store.

Leek said police discovered that numerous customers andemployees who were in the store when the gunman entered had "lockedthemselves in the coolers," where they remained throughout the siege.

"They are being let out and treated now," she said.

Police had negotiated with the gunman over a special telephoneline, according to police spokeswoman Louise Brown.

More than 200 police, backed by Air Force canine units,converged on the scene and police snipers were on rooftops, accordingto witnesses.

A second man had been taken into custody "in relation" to theshootings, but authorities later determined he had not taken part inany shooting, Brown said. Some witnesses had described two gunmen,one in his late 20s and the other in his 50s.

"There are a total of eight dead - five bodies in the K martparking lot they are trying to retrieve, three confirmed dead in thehospital," said Brown. "Two of the victims are Palm Bay policeofficers."

The little town about 30 miles south of the Kennedy Space Centerhad only four officers.

Initially, police had said 12 people were believed to have beenkilled.

In the confusion that persisted during the long siege, itremained uncertain how high the death toll might climb. At one pointduring the evening Brown said "30 is the number of bodies we have onthe ground," but she did not know how many of those were takingcover.

There were reports late last night that the melee may havestarted as a gunbattle between an apparently berserk man and a nearbyresident whose dog he killed, but authorities could not confirm that.

Several hours after the shooting began, five buses rolled out ofthe shopping centers, crowded with people who leaned out of thewindows waving and cheering. Authorities said they were taken to anearby store for police interviews and then to City Hall for reunionswith relatives.

The Holmes Regional Medical Center was treating 11 people forgunshot wounds.