Angery parent shoots son's coach

[Eric the Red]

CANTON, Texas (AP) -- The father of a high school football player shot and wounded the coach with an assault rifle Thursday and fled in a pickup loaded with weapons, authorities said.

 

The suspect, Jeffrey Doyle Robertson, 45, was carried out of the woods on a stretcher a few hours later, after his truck was found abandoned near a golf course outside Canton. His condition was not immediately disclosed.

 

Police were trying to establish the motive for the shooting of Canton High coach Gary Joe Kinne.

 

But those who knew Robertson said he had a bad temper. And Police Chief Mike Echols said Robertson had been banned from campus and told not to attend school functions. Robertson had had confrontations with some of the coaches, including Kinne, whose son was the quarterback, authorities said.

 

According to one parent, Robertson had complained last year that his son was being picked on by his teammates.

 

Kinne was shot with an AK-47 rifle in the chest at the school's field house, officials said. He was airlifted to a hospital in nearby Tyler; his condition was not immediately released.

 

The state Homeland Security Office said it received reports that Robertson had a hit list. Authorities declined to say whether any list was found.

 

An athlete's father, Steve Smith, said Robertson had threatened to kill Smith's son last year over an on-field teasing.

 

"He's a very high-strung, hot-tempered individual," said Smith, a business owner in Canton, about 60 miles east of Dallas.

 

Smith told the Tyler Morning Telegraph that Robertson's son, then a freshman football player, was walking off the field when some older students "razzed" him.

 

"This guy blew up," Smith said. "He thought some kids were picking on his son. My son wasn't even the one who said anything. But he threatened to kill him."

 

Smith said he complained to the school and police. Robertson was never charged.

 

Robertson worked for Dallas Plumbing Co. for six years, leaving in 2002 to start his own business with a partner, company President John Downs said.

 

Downs described Robertson as a good air-conditioning project manager and a devoted father who enjoyed taking his son hunting and fishing. But Downs said he heard about Robertson getting into fights in his hometown.

 

"He just seemed to be a good person, other than this temper that he had, which we never personally saw," Downs said.

 

When Downs last saw Robertson, about six months ago, he said Robertson had a broken leg, bruises and scrapes from a road-rage fight on the side of a highway.

 

"The last conversation that I had with him was that he really needed to learn how to control his temper or he was going to get hurt worse than that, but it didn't work," Downs said.

[kramer]

What a sick basterd

[bigredtoad]

Whatta wacko jacko. Did you guys see southpark last night? They were makin fun of the "bad dads" at the little league games that gest all liquored up and makes an ass of himself. pretty fun, sad and true all at the same time.

[AR Husker Fan]

Wasn't it also in Texas that the mother of a girl who was trying out for cheerleader put out a "hit" on another girl also trying out???

[Eric the Red]

Yeah but this is a friggin AK-47. Why could this parent possible get out of this?

[diehard]

This guy had all that fire power and he cut his wrists to try and kill himself.

[rocketlb]

I would say that means he wanted to be found, and not necessarily die. I mean wouldn't you think that if he wanted to actually kill himself that he would have shot himself in the head?

[joshuavacek]

I am going to be a highschool football coach in the very near future and all I can say is that is someone shoots me, he had better kill me, because if I don't die, HIS SON WILL NEVER PLAY AGAIN!!! Ha Ha

 

What a horrible story. What are some parents thinking????