BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — An Alabama man accused of going on a shooting spree in a rural community was charged Monday with killing the man who molested his daughter more than a decade ago and trying to kill a stepdaughter's boyfriend.
Sheriff's officials in Cullman County, located about 50 miles north of Birmingham, said the father was charged with murder in the shooting death of Raymond Earl Brooks, 59, a registered sex offender who was living with his parents.
The Associated Press isn't naming the suspect to protect his daughter's identity. The AP generally does not identify victims of sexual crimes.
Moments before Brooks was slain on Sunday, a motorcycle rider believed to be the father opened fire outside a country store in the Berlin community when he saw a man who has been dating his stepdaughter, said Chief Deputy Max Bartlett. The intended victim got away by running into the store and hiding, Bartlett said.
Investigators don't know of any connection between Brooks and the man who escaped, Bartlett said. It wasn't immediately clear what sparked either shooting.
The father and Brooks "obviously didn't have a whole lot of good blood between them," but it was unknown whether the shooting was directly linked to the sex abuse case, Bartlett said.
"It is odd. He apparently had a lot of stressors going on in his life," Bartlett said.
Court records were not immediately available to show whether the father had a defense lawyer. He was held in the county jail.
