( dpa ) - A gunman with a history of conflict with local officials opened fire in a public meeting Thursday night in a suburb of St Louis, Missouri, killing five and wounding two before being shot to death by police.
St Louis County police said late Thursday that two city police officers were among the dead in the shooting in Kirkwood, Missouri, west of St Louis.
The gunman, who had reportedly been arrested for disrupting a city council meeting in 2006, shot one Kirkwood officer outside City Hall, just as an evening city council meeting was getting underway, authorities said.
The man entered the building, shot a second officer and entered the chamber where the public meeting had started with about 30 people in attendance, including elected officials, city staff, citizens and local journalists. The suspect shot five more people inside the meeting before being shot down by another Kirkwood officer, St Louis County police spokeswoman Tracy Panus said.
"He has shot seven people, killing five of them," she said.