The town of Samson turned out for a prayer service Wednesday night.
The gunman grew up there, graduated from the local high school and worked in the area's factories. A former teacher says she enjoyed having Michael McLendon as a student, describing him as honest.
Josh Smith, who played baseball with McLendon when they were young says "he was just a normal person."
An Iraq war veteran says watching the carnage Tuesday "was much worse than anything" he saw while serving, because he says in Iraq "you are prepared for it."
McLendon began his rampage a dozen miles from Samson in Kinston, where he burned down the home he shared with his mother, killing her. It ended an hour later when he committed suicide after a shootout with police. In between, he shot and killed four more of his relatives and five bystanders.
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