Angry Iowan Opens Fire on City Council, Slays Mayor

Horror brought this quiet southern Iowa town to a standstill today after a gunman angry about a backed-up sewer burst into a City Council meeting Wednesday night, killing the mayor and seriously wounding two council members.

The gunman, Ralph Orin David, 69, burst into a weekly meeting at City Hall about 9:10 p.m., waved a pistol and shouted “You sons of bitches!” then shot Mayor Edward King and Council members JoAnne Sankey and Ronald DuPree, witnesses said.

When police arrived, Davis had put his gun down and was sitting quietly in the front row of audience chairs. He put his hands on his head and lay down on the floor.

Davis had returned to Mount Pleasant three or four years ago after his mother died, said neighbor Dave Heaton. “He was a character, a reactionary guy. I never felt comfortable around him.”

Davis wasn’t employed, and used to drive around town on a motorcycle with his dog, Heaton said.

King, 53, a councilman for three years and mayor for the past 11 years, died of multiple gunshot wounds shortly after 12:30 a.m. today, officials said. Sankey, 39, was in critical condition and DuPree, 43, was in serious condition, both with multiple gunshot wounds.

Davis, a stocky, white-haired retiree, appeared calm during his initial court appearance early today. He was handcuffed, chained at the waist and held under heavy security.

As flags outside the courthouse flew at half staff, Henry County Magistrate David McCoid formally charged Davis with first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder and ordered him held on $700,000 bond.

Former Mayor Jim Green said the southeast Iowa town is in a “state of shock. It’s like someone pulled the trigger on the whole town.”