MOSCOW, Idaho -- Moscow Police Chief David Duke said this is the second deadly shooting spree the department has seen in the last decade.
On May 20, 2007, a sniper sprayed dozens of bullets on a courthouse, killing a police officer and wounding a sheriff's deputy and a civilian, then apparently killed a caretaker and himself in a nearby church, police said.
Investigators believe the shooter, Jason Hamilton, deliberately fired into an emergency dispatch center inside the Latah County Courthouse to lure people into the line of fire back in 2007. The officer was killed as he rushed to the courthouse, and the deputy helped pull the officer out of the way before being shot, said Duke, who was assistant police chief at the time.
Three SWAT teams entered the First Presbyterian Church and found the bodies of Hamilton and another man, Duke said. An assault rifle, ammunition and spent shells were found next to the Hamilton's corpse, he said.
Hamilton died of what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, Duke said. His body was found in the sanctuary, and the body of another man was found in the church office. The second man, Paul Bauer, also died of gunshot wounds, Duke said.
A hail of more than 30 bullets ripped through the county's dispatch center, Duke said. Dispatchers were moved to the jail area of the courthouse.
