Possible Motive in Law Office Shooting
A retired municipal worker who shot five people in an Alexandria, La., law office yesterday may have been motivated by a divorce settlement dispute, authorities say.
However, an investigation is continuing and further details of what may have driven John Ashley, 63, to shoot three attorneys, a legal secretary and a postal worker—and shoot at authorities repeatedly during a 10-hour standoff before he himself was shot and killed by police—aren’t yet available, according to the Town Talk, a local newspaper, and the Associated Press.
Three related lawyers in the Giordano & Giordano law firm were shot Thursday, one of them fatally. Camille J. “Joey” Giordano II, 32, a local prosecutor, apparently died at the family law office in downtown Alexandria near the Rapides Parish Courthouse, along with postal worker John Martin “Marty” Thiels, 50.
Giordano’s father, Camille Giordano, 60, was shot in the chest and reportedly is in critical condition after seven hours of surgery Thursday. The senior Giordano’s brother and law partner, Sam Giordano, 49, also was shot in the chest but apparently was not as seriously injured. Andrea Price, 27, a law firm secretary, was shot in the leg.
More details are provided in an earlier ABAJournal.com post.
