Sgt. Jeff Kinder of the Missouri State Highway Patrol said Tuesday morning suspected murderer Joseph Aldridge shot his victims multiple times and was found with “quite a bit of ammunition.”
Aldridge, 36, allegedly killed seven people and wounded another person at four separate residences Thursday night in Tyrone. He later killed himself and was found dead inside his pickup truck about 15 miles away from the shootings.
Kinder said he didn’t know the exact number of times each of victim had been shot, but confirmed it was more than once.
“I don’t have an information on that other than they were shot multiple times,” he said.
Reports were unfounded that Aldridge was wearing a bulletproof vest during his rampage, according to Kinder.
“He was wearing a vest when he was found in his vehicle,” Kinder said, “but it was like a load-bearing vest, not a bulletproof vest.”
Aldridge was well equipped to fire his gun, Kinder said.
“He had quite a bit of ammunition on him,” he said.
When word of the tragedies first circulated, 17 troopers with the patrol responded. Kinder said 11 are still involved in the investigation, primarily from the agency’s Division of Drug and Crime Control (DDCC).
“There is still a lot of activity,” Kinder said. “We will be in this until its conclusion.”
Kinder said facing dozens of media members from around the nation was an unexpected task.
“Once you get involved with the national news media this way, I’ve had to learn by experience here,” he said. “You can’t practice for that, that’s for sure.”