Jackson Co. Sheriff's wife & a deputy killed

MARIANNA, Fla. (AP)— The Jackson County sheriff’s wife, a deputy and two suspects were killed Tuesday in a shooting, authorities said.

Mellie McDaniel, wife of Sheriff John McDaniel, a deputy and two suspects were killed, Florida Department of Law Enforcement Karen Mason said. The identities of the deputy and suspects were not immediately released.

McDaniel was driving home when she noticed a suspicious car following her. She pulled into her driveway when two suspects shot and killed her. The suspects also fatally shot the deputy who responded to the scene, local news reports said.

It was not immediately known whether the shooting was random or whether McDaniel had been targeted. No other details were immediately available.

Bay County Sheriff’s spokeswoman Ruth Sasser confirmed there had been a shooting and said their agency was investigating with a SWAT team, K9 units and air units.

The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office declined to comment Tuesday night.

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http://www.bayso.org/

Any updates?

By DEBORAH BUCKHALTER
Jackson County Floridan
February 1, 2007


In just seven minutes, four people were shot to death outside the home of Sheriff John McDaniel Tuesday afternoon.
On Wednesday, authorities confirmed what had been circulating throughout Jackson County since those fateful few moments: Assailants Lionel Jay Sands and Daniel Ray Brown had fatally shot Sheriff John McDaniel's wife and one of his deputies before being killed themselves in a shootout with responding officers.

State Attorney Steve Meadows said "it was a miracle" that the sheriff himself was still alive. Bullets were fired directly at him as he ran to see about his wife, Mellie McDaniel, and deputy Harold Michael Altman. The heroic actions of his deputies, themselves in harm's way, likely saved his life, Meadows said.

The sheriff was talking to his wife on a mobile phone around 4:45 p.m. when she told him someone had followed her into the driveway of their home. He heard her scream and summoned deputies as he sped home.

Altman was the first to arrive, and McDaniel was close behind.

On the sheriff's heels came two deputies, who took up positions quickly and shot back as the gunmen fired on the sheriff. The bullets found their mark, and the two murderous intruders were dead by 5:53 p.m.

More than 100 officers from a wide array of law enforcement agencies came to search the area around McDaniel's home above Marianna on State Road 73. Special infrared-equipped helicopters were deployed, and search dogs tried to pick up a scent.

Authorities feared an associate of Sands and Brown might also be lurking in the shadows, but later confirmed the individual was not even in the state.

Meanwhile, investigators emptied out the cream-colored Crown Victoria that had followed the sheriff's wife home. Inside it they found gloves, bleach, vinegar, several sets of handcuffs ? both disposable and traditional types ? duct tape, and a large amount of ammunition.

They recovered two .38-caliber pistols attributed to Sands and a .22-caliber pistol attributed to Brown.

Why did Brown and Sands do what they did? State Attorney Steve Meadows would not directly speculate on that, but he did talk about circumstances surrounding the tragedy.

Sands has been a suspect in the 2001 death of his wife, Gail Sands. He called 911 on June 9 of that year to report that he had found his wife floating in a pool at their home on Birchwood Drive near Cypress. He suggested she'd hit her head on a ladder, but authorities were skeptical.

At the time, Brown was working as a handyman at the Sands' home, and provided an alibi that authorities never fully trusted.

After his wife's death, Sands tried to cash in on a life insurance policy worth several hundred thousand dollars, but expressed frustration in the months that followed her death because he could not get the insurance company to release the funds.

That may have been on the word of law enforcement authorities. As time passed, he filed a civil suit over the payoff. The case was dismissed from federal court recently, and Sands was to be held responsible for the insurance company's cost in defending its position.

Authorities would not say whether the sheriff or his officers were to be involved in the civil matter, and Meadows said he would not suggest a motive might be found in those circumstances.

There are questions that may never be answered, he said.

Mellie McDaniel told her husband she saw one man in the car. Was one hiding out of sight inside the car, or in the darkness around the home? Those who know are dead.

Did the men carry out their original intentions? The duct tape, handcuffs, ammunition, vinegar and bleach suggest they may have had something more elaborate in mind when they started out that day. Again, those who know are dead.

And those who lost so much on Tuesday must learn how to live without those answers.

By DEBORAH BUCKHALTER / dbuckhalter@jcfloridan.com
February 1, 2007


A diverse portrait of Lionel Sands emerged a day after he and another man went to the home of Jackson County Sheriff John McDaniel and allegedly shot the sheriff's wife and a deputy to death.
Sands and Daniel Brown were killed Tuesday by deputies in a firefight that erupted moments after Mellie McDaniel and Deputy Mike Altman were shot.

For a time, Sands was a familiar face in politcal circles. He was a member of the Republican Club of West Florida for about three years, according to former club president Homer Hirt.

Sands was also a precinct chairman for the party at one time.

"I never talked with him a lot," Hirt said. "He was a very quiet person, and he had a military background; I'm pretty certain it was Army. I remember that his wife was a very nice lady. They were usually together at the meetings before she died, and after that he also attended quite a few of the meetings for a long time. Then he quit, but came back periodically. He told me his work would be taking him out of town, and I don't know what he was doing lately; he had only been to a couple of meetings in the last year."

Sands also attended some Jackson County Chamber of Commerce functions around 2003-2004, said Art Kimbrough, executive director of the chamber.

"I don't recall that he ever became a member of the chamber," Kimbrough said. "He was quick to tell a lot of his opinions or what should be done, but he didn't seem to listen to others much. He came across as overly pious. He would make you feel a little uneasy."

Kimbrough said Sands was banned from renting any of the board rooms in the Russ House in 2003. According to Kimbrough, chamber officials felt Sands had misrepresented his intent for using the board room.

"I remember that he was going to use it for some type of meeting about a charity or community-type project. But the only people who went to see him were investigators. He was apparently being interrogated concerning his late wife, but I think he was also trying to characterize himself as someone who was deeply involved in the community."

Sands had a career in the Army, according to the paperwork he filed when he applied for a job with Jackson County.

According to that record, Sands had "top secret" security clearance at one time during more than nine years in the Army. Some records indicate he obtained the rank of lieutenant colonel, while others show he was a captain.

But county officials also found something disturbing when they did a background check on Sands. His criminal history revealed several arrests on felony charges, according to that file.

Among the charges noted in the background check were allegations of aggravated assault with a firearm, kidnapping, armed trespassing, attempted robbery with a firearm, assault, and trespassing.

There were notations alongside some of those entries indicating that the charges had been abandoned, but the record was enough to take him off the list of viable candidates for a job as the veterans services officer, which had opened up in August 2004.

Sands had also worked briefly at a state correctional facility about 10 years ago, according to a Department of Corrections spokesman. The details of his separation from that job and the specific position he held were not immediately available.

In the resume he submitted to the county in September 2004, he indicated he was working at McDonalds as an assistant manager-night manager.

He also listed himself as having been a consultant for Computer Lady, a company based in Dothan, Ala. His supervisor on that job, Donna Campbell, died in June of last year and further information about that position was not immediately available.

He listed himself as director of circulation at the Jackson County Floridan from December 2001 until December 2002, but in fact was a district circulation manager from December 2001 through October 2002.

He listed himself as a self-employed cattle farmer from 1986 until December. 2001. He said he entered the workforce because he "missed being part of an organization that deals with people."

Sands' resume indicates an impressive education.

Born in Jackson, Mich., on March 2, 1946, Sands holds a bachelor's degree from Morgan State University in Maryland, and two master's degrees from other schools. He lists a master's degree in public service/counseling from Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, and a master's in adminstration from Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif.

Some of those who say they considered him a friend are shocked at the events that unfolded outside the sheriff's home late Tuesday afternoon.

Grace Chatwood was a friend of Sands and his wife Gail, and said she is shocked by what happened.

"I'm just shocked. For what he did last night, he deserved what he got," Chatwood said Wednesday. The deputy and Mellie didn't deserve what they got. My heart goes out to everyone who loves them."

Chatwood said it was Gail Sands that talked her into running for a county office, and that the two shared a close friendship before Mrs. Sands died.

Chatwood said she reached out in friendship to comfort Lionel Sands in the days following his wife's death.

She said she was aware of rumors that there was more to the relationship ? talk that started during her campaign, she said ? but that it simply wasn't true. She continued to view him as a friend, even though they had not spoken or attended meetings together in some time.

She said a law enforcement officer who was aware of their friendship spoke with her Tuesday night.

"He asked me if I had any idea what could have triggered this.They asked me several questions, but I knew of nothing.

"I got to know him when I worked at the Marianna High School and he was a coach there, and then I met his wife. She was the one that wanted me to run for the county commission as a Republican ? I changed parties to do it.

"She and I were more friends than he and I, but he was a friend, too. They seemed to get along great. I tried to be there for him after she died, and some people tried to make something else out of the relationship. I can't do anything about that, but I know the truth and I had to be there for him.

"He had his moments, like anyone, but there was just never anything that suggested to me that he could do something like this. I don't think anybody that ever knew him could say they saw this coming."

She said he once confided to her that, if he ever got the insurance money from his wife's life policy, he planned to donate it to Partners for Pets. Her image of him, she said, doesn't fit in with the words and pictures that flashed across her television screen Tuesday night and Wednesday.

Tom and Juanita Sanson also thought of Sands as a friend. Juanita Sanson said they were among the first people Sands called the day his wife died.

"He called and said Gail died, and that it was an accident," she recalled. "He asked if we could come out there, and we did. He showed us the pool she'd fallen in, the ladder that had fallen on her, and we stayed with him several hours. We left after some others arrived, but we tried to be supportive.

"Lionel was a little spacey sometimes, but aren't we all, and don't we all need someone to talk to sometimes? I try not to judge, I try to be a friend to everybody. This all is just so hard to believe. "

By CHRISTOPHER MITCHELL / WMBB News 13
February 1, 2007

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Freeport, Fla - Slain Jackson County deputy Mike Altman’s family and friends are remembering him as a person who cared for everyone, even those he had to arrest.

“He would always try to give people second chances,” says f Altman’s mother in her home in Freeport. “If he stopped them for DUI, he would try to take them home. He tried to take one guy home, and then, he came back, and he had to arrest him.

He always tried to give people the benefit of changing their life around,” she says.

Harold Mike Altman, 41, was killed Tuesday night when he responded to a call to the home of the sheriff. He was killed at the scene, along with the two suspects and the sheriff’s wife.

Deputy Altman’s mother describes her son as a caring, family man. “I’m going to miss him,” she said, as tears welled up in her eyes and fell down her cheeks. “He did everything he could to help us. He’d do anything he could to help anybody.“

Deputy Altman’s cousin and friend, Billy Altman, remembers him the same way. “We did gospel sings and fundraisers for youth groups at the church in order to get money for kids that couldn’t afford to go to outings and stuff,” he says. “He just loved everybody. I’ve never seen a bad side to him.“

Billy Altman remembers that his cousin had a funny side to him, too. “He was a pilot, and I remember when I was young how much he was a prankster. The first time I ever went flying with him, we got into a small plane - me, him and his dad - and they took me up pretty high. I just remember that, you know, cars looked like ants on the ground. They got me up there and cut the plane off, and we started free-falling with the plane. Then, he acted like it wouldn’t crank up.”

His mother says making the funeral arrangements is difficult, but she is comforted in knowing that hundreds of law enforcement officers from the Southeast may be converging on Freeport to honor her son. “I have so many things I’m proud of him for,” she says. “He was a loving son. He always would tell us he loved us.”

“I wish everybody could be like Mike. The world, it would be a better place, I guarantee you. I loved him to death. I’m going to miss him, and I’ll see him one day in Heaven. I know that,” Billy Altman said.

Altman’s family said they want everyone to know that the funeral is open to anyone that wants to honor the fallen deputy. They’re were hoping to have the funeral at Damascus Assembly of God in Freeport where his mom says the deputy had helped to build the outside columns to the church.

He leaves behind a wife and two stepchildren.