Missouri Town Feels Relief After Cornered Fugitive Kills Himself

Residents put away their guns, hugged one another and cheered Friday after Michael Wayne Jackson, a murder suspect who had been on the loose for 11 days, killed himself as police officers cornered him in a barn.

Feelings of relief swept through town as word spread that Jackson, who had vowed not to be taken alive, was found dead late Thursday.

“We’re euphoric,” said Sheila Cone, superintendent of the Wright City School District. “It’s like being released from a trap. There’s an overwhelming sense of relief. Once the cause of the tension was lifted, people realized how stressful the situation has been.”

Suspect in 3 Deaths

Jackson arrived in Wright City in a stolen car and a hail of gunfire on the night of Sept. 22. He was a suspect in three murders--of a federal parole officer and store clerk in Indiana and a motorist in Missouri--as well as five abductions, two robberies and several vehicle thefts in a rampage from Indianapolis across Illinois into eastern Missouri.

Hundreds of law officers had searched for him while residents traveled in groups by day and huddled behind locked doors by night with guns close at hand. Business in town fell sharply.

“It’s been terrible around here, but now it’s great,” Renda Bloebaum, a waitress at the 50s Cafe, said Friday. “Everyone is just real happy that we can get back to living normal, that we won’t have to deal with roadblocks and all that, and knowing that there’s a maniac running around.”

Law Officers’ Feelings

Even weary law officers could not conceal their feelings.

“It’s a great day,” said Hal Helterhoff, the FBI agent who was in charge of the manhunt.

After being cornered in a barn Thursday evening, Jackson shot himself in the head with the same sawed-off shotgun that he had used during the crime spree, authorities said. Helterhoff said Jackson shot himself with the last shell he had.