Police seek motive for linemen shooting

Police are still investigating what could have driven a Perryville, Mo., man to shoot and injure two AmerenUE linemen Friday morning in Jackson, before taking his own life.

Aaron C. Hemingway, 32, is believed to have pulled off of Interstate 55 and gotten out of his truck at an AmerenUE substation at Center Junction, where Kingshighway becomes Jackson Boulevard, around 9:50 a.m.

Some linemen were working in cherry pickers at the substation, making repairs, and Hemingway ordered them to get down, said Jackson police chief James Humphreys.

When they did not, he opened fire from beneath them with a 12-gauge shotgun, injuring two of the workers, Humphreys said.

Another worker was shot at but not injured.

Witnesses to the shooting managed to get a license plate number and direction of travel on the truck, police said.

The suspected shooter then fled toward Jackson, driving a small red Chevrolet S10. Several Jackson sanitation workers spotted him driving around the Bent Creek, Mulberry subdivision.

FRED LYNCH ~ flynch@semissourian.com Jackson police work the scene on Ridge Road where the driver of a small Chevrolet truck took his own life with a 12-gauge shotgun after apparently shooting two Ameren utility workers Friday morning near Center Junction.

Police caught up with the vehicle on Ridge Road near Stotler Way. Jackson officers conducted a traffic stop and attempted to contact the driver via radio loudspeaker.

Missouri State Highway Patrol, Cape Girardeau police and Cape Girardeau County sheriff's deputies assisted with the traffic stop, but when officers approached the truck, they saw Hemingway was dead of a single gunshot wound, Humphreys said.

The wound is believed to have been self-inflicted, and an autopsy has been scheduled for Sunday at Mineral Area Regional Medical Center, said Cape Girardeau County Coroner John Clifton.

No evidence indicates that Hemingway knew any of the Ameren workers, or had any reason to target the company specifically, Humphreys said.

"At this point we have no motive; we don't understand why he has done this," Humphreys said.

As a resident of Perryville, Hemingway is not believed to have been an AmerenUE customer and would likely have not been affected by a power outage during the recent ice storm, Humphreys said.

The two shooting victims were taken to a Cape Girardeau hospital for treatment and were in stable condition Friday night, Humphreys said.

"In my 40 years with Ameren nothing like this has ever happened before," said Thomas R. Voss, AmerenUE president.

"Please keep our co-workers in your prayers this weekend."

bdicosmo@semissourian.com

388-3635

Jackson shooting

<param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/edDAdKHdmAQ&hl=en&fs=1"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/edDAdKHdmAQ&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="295">