Posted on 04/14/2012 3:21:14 AM PDT by Las Vegas Dave
A Strongsville man fetched a shotgun and killed his wife in a restaurant gift shop Thursday after she told him during a birthday dinner for one of their daughters that she was leaving him.
Kevin Allen, 51, then hunted down his 10-year-old daughters in a restroom, killing Kerri on her birthday with one blast to her belly and critically injuring Kayla, a source familiar with the investigation said Friday.
Minutes later, police officers from this Cleveland suburb confronted the still-armed Allen in the restaurant doorway and killed him with a barrage of gunfire. No other patrons or employees were injured.
Police arrived at Cracker Barrel Old Country Store about 8:40 p.m., as Katie Allen was talking to a 9-1-1 dispatcher, reporting that her husband was circling the parking lot, according to a recording of the call.
"I'm having some spouse problems," Katie Allen, 42, told a dispatcher. "I told him that I was leaving him."
What remained unclear Friday was whether officers arrived after Allen had already entered the restaurant with the shotgun. Police Chief Scott Mielke did respond to requests for clarification.
As of Friday afternoon, Kayla was listed in critical condition at MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland. Neither police nor hospital officials would disclose the nature of her injuries. Kayla is 10 months older than her sister.
Two days before the shootings, on Tuesday, Katie Allen reported to Strongsville police that she and her husband had been arguing. In a police report, she stated that she and the girls and had left their Shurmer Road home on Sunday and were staying with a friend.
She also told police that her husband had threatened to keep the girls if she returned to the house to collect her belongings.
Court records show that Kevin Allen had a history of domestic violence dating to previous marriages. Records show he had been divorced at least three times. He was convicted of domestic violence and menacing in two separate cases in 1995.
He and Katie Allen were together since 2000, according to his Facebook page. They and their daughters had lived since 2007 in a sky-blue ranch house that had belonged to her parents.
On Friday morning, no one answered the door at the house. A Confederate flag hung in the back yard. A trampoline rusted on the front lawn. A basketball hoop stood on the driveway, not far from a Kansas City Chiefs sign.
Neighbors described Allen as quiet and his wife as more outgoing.
"She was real nice and friendly," said Irene Bendzuck, who has lived across the street for more than two decades. "He was always kind of weird."
Bendzuck recalled occasionally babysitting for the girls.
"They would laugh and giggle and dance," she said.
Neighbors said Katie Allen was severely injured in a car accident years ago and spent months recuperating. Her husband had prostate cancer, according to his Facebook page.
Last August, the coupe filed for bankruptcy, listing $169,000 in debt, including $20,000 in hospital bills. Kevin Allen worked for RWK Services, a commercial cleaning company, according to the bankruptcy filing. The couple earned about $62,000 together in 2010.
In February, when three students were shot to death at Chardon High School and a teen was arrested, Kevin Allen posted a comment on his Facebook page.
"Thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the wounded and killed students at Chardon High School. And also to the family of the shooter, who must be going through a horrible time dealing with what their son has done."
On Friday afternoon, the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner released details of the autopsies of Allen and his wife. He died of multiple gunshot wounds. His wife died of shotgun wounds to the head and torso.
Kevin Allen's family lives in Kansas City, Mo. His brother, David, said on Friday the family was flying to Cleveland today to make arrangements. In a statement released through MetroHealth, the family asked for privacy.
Cracker Barrel released a statement, too.
"Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and the family of those killed and injured in this tragic incident," it said.
Ohio ping.
Course, they won’t dare do a drug test now on the guy...but I’d be willing to bet that he had some drug in his system.
sounds like he was missing some drugs in his system.
Telling your crazy hus a d you’re leaving him at your daughters birthday not exactly the smartest way to handle it.
“...but I’d be willing to bet that he had some drug in his system.”
Unfortunately he may have just seen all too clearly that he would be reduced to salary garnishments and rarely seeing his children; I’ve always wondered how men deal with that (and I guess this one couldn’t).
Kill yourself if you gotta. BUT LEAVE THE DAMNED KIDS ALONE!!!!
Jefferson's Davis' fault, obviously.
Red flag alert right here. Look at his prior history with the law and with marriages. Seeing this, she should have ran the other way. It was obvious he had problems and was unable to maintain a healthy relationship. He obviously needed the help he never got and lost it completely, killing his own wife and children! Horrific!
Berry’s malaise.
It’s so easy to do a police records check online these days, it’s foolish not to do one before you get married. He obviously was a time bomb waiting to explode.
“Red flag alert right here. Look at his prior history with the law and with marriages. Seeing this, she should have ran the other way.”
Oh, but the sex was just...
She is depraved telling him she is cutting out on her daughter’s birthday. Not to say what he did is right, just saying these people are depraved.
The way the report is worded, it sounds as if she actually wanted to set off her ticking time bomb of a husband. That doesn’t excuse his murderous rampage at all, but he seems to have had a nudge.
Crazy comes in many shapes and forms. Two of them appear to have met and married, here.
I’m very sorry for the two little girls. Such a vile thing to have happened on what should have been a happy, inmocent occasion.
***
seperately, lemme just say that the self-centered, manipulative and devious qualities that seems to mark what passes for "men" these days is despicable and getting tired.
Cracker Double Barrel.
I was thinking about the name “cracker” barrel. Then you have a shotgun divorce as compared to a shotgun wedding.
Remember when Phil Hartman served his wife with divorce papers while dressed in his pajamas and then proceeded to get into bed? Some spouses are just dumb!
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