Jackson Jambalaya

I also noticed a front page article announcing Worldcom's expansion plans. How'd that workout?

Wait - there used to be a Ruth’s Chris Steak House at Northpark??? How ominous for the Renaissance.

KF, I could have gone without being reminded of this, but then again we sure as heck don't need to forget it.

I had the privilege of working with a now retired JFD assistant chief on a project about 12 years ago, and spent a lot of time in that HQ station. That was just 10 years after the incident and it was very much alive in everyone's minds then. They went to great pains to show me all the security improvements/changes that had been put in place since the shootings, and also to describe the aftermath of the event on families, friends, the department as a whole....

You're right, 12:50, if not for a skull shot, that bullet might have gone straight thru the door to Ruth's.

I can't remember, but why was this guy not electrocuted?

Woah! I've never heard this story. Thanks for sharing KF!

I actually had a encounter with him in the Jitney Jungle store around 11:30PM the night before this happened. I could tell he was in a very bad mood (possibly steroid related?) but had no idea he was capable of murder. I believe he killed his wife early the next morning and then drove to the fire station. Such a sad and tragic day for Jackson.

The revisionists will make him a hero and martyr for his fight against white oppression. Too bad his brains didn’t splatter all over the windows at Ruth Chris. Rot in hell motherfucker

On a lighter note, and I definitely need some levity after being reminded of this horrid event, there is something seriously wrong with the artist's rendering of the "planned" WorldComm expansion. The existing WorldCom building on the left of the picture is on Amite Street. On the right side of the picture, we're obviously looking up Capitol Street at the Old Capitol. Problem is, Amite and Capitol don't cross, they run parallel a block apart.

WorldCom once proposed building a new building adjacent to their exiting office (now the DEQ offices). The new complex would have stretched from Amite to Capitol. As I recall, the city leadership at the time screwed up and the HQ moved to Clinton after that.

2:19, that rendering is correct. It shows the WEST elevation of the former WorldCom headquarters, which faces President Street, with the proposed addition wrapping around the former J.C. Bradford building - now Ogden Law Firm / Don Evans Law firm, located on the corner of President and Capitol. That view looks to the north up President and to the east toward the Old Capitol.

So sad. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Tornes, like most of the mass killers of his ilk was obviously, visibly and y predictably mentally stressed.

It seems worth mentioning that the comments common by acquaintances of these mass killers almost always include: "He was moody, volatile, a troubled loner, an animal abuser, a wife abuser, had persecution complex, paid his rent on time (????),etc.

On the other hand these folks might just be evil.

1:46 you are correct Tornes killed his wife first - in their garage. A neighbor noticed him washing blood out of his driveway but didn’t notify anyone. JPD was also investigating Tornes in a random home invasion - style killing where a man broke into a home in West Jackson, killed a serviceman on leave visiting his girlfriend and child and then left without taking anything or harming others. The theory was a possible road rage incident earlier between the victim and Tornes. The JFD shooting came after weeks of city council meetings where the firefighters union brought a “coffin” to the meetings and claimed the Fire Chief was implementing policies that they claimed was going to get a firefighter killed and he had to be stopped. I worked for the city and arrived at the HQ just after Tornes fled. It was a nightmare - blood and spent shells everywhere. The men were sitting ducks because none were armed.

The big news that day was supposed to be Worldcomm - more background if you don’t mind. The Clarion Ledger had run an article earlier pointing out that Worldcomm had its executives in Jackson but its major employment and technology base was in Tulsa after it bought Williams Communications. The article hinted that it would be easy for WC executives to move to Oklahoma and leave Jackson. Bernie Ebbers was reportedly furious and accelerated the plans for the downtown HQ, hence the rushed drawing. In fact, the announcement was huge, with dozens of people in the empty space on Capitol Street. All the TV and radio people were there - everyone, in fact, except reporters from the Ledger because they had not been invited (Bernie holds a grudge!). The C/L found out after the Jackson. Mayor’s office called to see why they weren’t there.

Jackson had had a run of bad news because of crime, and all us city folk were excited that finally good news about Jackson was going to be the lead story. Then, about an hour later at JFD HQ.

Sigh.. Remember when the paper had sections

You're correct, F mickns. But, had this happened today, you can add, "Typically posted to facebook pages and blogs that he was overcome with angst over being denied opportunity for advancement by white folks".

Of course this post won't see daylight.

footnote to all of this. tornes hired atty sanford knott shortly after his arrest. he instructed sanford to convey away his biggest asset which i believe was his firefighters pension. sanford prepared paperwork to have it turned over to his children. later on , after he was indicted, he pled poverty and asked for a public defender. that p o s bobby delaughter at the DAs office at the time , cooked up this BS motion to have sanford knott cough up the money that he had conveyed away. delaughters take was that he was not indigent at the time of the murders so the state should not have to provide him a public defender . a certain circuit judge , who was jam up and jelly tight ,with delaughter agreed. afterward, the matter was appealed to the mississippi supreme court where it was entirely REVERSED, stating that it amounted to a disciplinary sanction against an attorney, and only the mississippi state bar could impose that. a classic example of how corrupt bobby delaughter was even before he got sent to prison. dont take my word for it. read all about it in the case styled hinds county vs sanford knott handed down by the supreme court about 1998.

to 1:18...."WHY WASNT HE ELTROCUTED?'...... read the article num-nuts , he died in prison before his death sentence could be carried out. are you so stupid you cant read??

detective gooch from ridgeland p d should have been given a medal for marksmanship for that well placed pistol shot.

Yeah he took care of whitie, that day, say what you want, but folks started understanding black rage after this.

9:24...1:18 here. I apologize for not having read the article. Please forgive me. Signed - Num-nuts.

4/26 @ 3:41, my bad. You are absolutely correct. That view is of the President Street entrance, not the Amite side, and President does intersect Capitol just a stone's throw away. I couldn't see that for the life of me yesterday, but it's clear as a bell now that you've pointed that out. Thank you for setting me straight.

Didn't read the article yesterday since I remembered the event, but now having partially done so...

Wow! Didn't remember the Larry Shoemake sniper shootings from the former Po' Folks at Ellis Isle was only 10 days before this incident. Was there something in the air/water or what?

Wow, look at all that news in the paper. It is nice to see what newspapers used to look like, in-depth reporting, lots of text. If this happened today it would just be a reprint of the press release without commentary next to some associated press story about lost kittens in Iowa.

all this stinking talk about worldcomm. like they were something special. that company never once ever operated in the black and never in their history paid a dividend to the stockholders. then it imploded all based on fraud. bernie ebbers got 25 years in federal prison. are you hackers in denial about all that ?

IS Bernie Ebbers still alive? Still in Jail? Haven't heard his name in a long, long time.