[1]SALT LAKE CITY (BP)–A 71-year-old man with a history of schizophrenia walked into the Family History Library of the Mormon church in Salt Lake City and shot two people to death and then was killed by police.
At least four other people and a police officer were wounded in the shooting rampage.
The library of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is across the street from the church’s Temple Square and just two blocks from the Salt Lake Convention Center where the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting was held last summer. Many Southern Baptists, while in Salt Lake City for the convention, visited the Temple Square and the genealogical library, the largest in the world.
The man, wearing a long jacket, cap and baggy pants, was identified as Sergei Babarin of Central City, Utah, a Russian native who neighbors said was often frustrated by his broken English.
Salt Lake Mayor Deedee Corradini, in a news conference, said the man was apparently schizophrenic and hadn’t been taking his medication.
The 90-minute siege began at about 10:30 a.m. and lasted nearly 90 minutes, police said.
Apparently Babarin, armed with a small caliber handgun, walked into the reception area of the library and opened fire at patrons and employees.
The library houses more than 2 million rolls of microfilm copies of census and other records from more than 100 countries. The church uses the information in conjunction with its practice of baptizing for the dead.