Family of gunman had tried to get him to seek treatment

Date: 11/22/99 22:15

Relatives of a gunman, who shot two co-workers Saturday before killing himself at an airport parking lot, said Monday that they had tried for at least five years to get him to seek psychological treatment.

Negusse H. Zeleke, 37, an employee of The Parking Spot at Kansas City International Airport, left a bitter, sometimes rambling letter that indicated the shootings were racially motivated.

Michael Scott, a driver at The Parking Spot, died in the shootings Saturday; Traci Riehle, a dispatcher, was shot in the face and remained in critical condition Monday. Zeleke, an Ethiopian, spared the lives of two black persons in the office before turning his gun on himself, police said.

"It appears there was some racial motivation behind this shooting," said Sgt. Jay Pruetting of the Kansas City Police Department's homicide unit. "The letter he wrote insinuates he was having a problem with white people. I can't say the two other victims were shot specifically because they were white, but it's a possibility. We haven't found any specifics that he was having problems with either of these employees."

Police said Zeleke shot Scott in the parking lot and then approached two women working in the dispatch office. He shot Riehle, but didn't shoot a black woman sitting next to her.

According to police, witnesses said Zeleke then pointed his gun at a black man in the office and said, "Hey, I'm not shooting you. This is for all the black people."

Zeleke then handed the man his letter before going outside and shooting himself, police said.

Yallew Hailu, Zeleke's oldest son, said Monday that for years the family had suspected that Zeleke suffered from psychological problems, and had encouraged him to get help.

They said Zeleke often seemed depressed and complained that he thought everyone was against him. His work schedule, filled with multiple jobs and 16-hour days, made it difficult to seek psychological help, they said.

"I read the letter for the first time today, and it shocked me," Hailu said. "It just didn't seem like the man we knew. He never mentioned any of this stuff to any of us before."

Hailu described his father as "a very nice person, who cares about his family and everyone else. He was a very strong Christian."

The letter was dated Nov. 5, more than two weeks before the shootings, and addressed to "My dear family, relatives, and for all Ethiopians and all black races." In it, Zeleke details hardships that he claimed to have suffered in his native Ethiopia, then later in the United States. He served as a police officer in Ethiopia for four years, then went to Kenya for two years before coming to the United States in 1989.

Several times, he refers disparagingly to white "supremacists" in the three-page, typewritten letter that police released Monday.

Zeleke wrote that his "entire life has been under continued attacks by the white-ruled Federal Bureau of Investigations office. Wherever I go, they are behind my back, spoiling my reputation, spreading completely false and made-up stories and slander, inciting me to perform crime specifically at my work place and my home in San Francisco, Atlanta, and here in Kansas City."

Jeff Lanza, spokesman for the FBI, said the agency had no record of any contact with Zeleke anywhere in the country.

Later in the letter, Zeleke accused white authorities of racial bias, particularly against Ethiopians, "because the Ethiopians are the first black race to fight, win and degrade those trash racist white men."

Richard A. Bjork, vice president of Airport America in Minneapolis, which manages The Parking Spot, said Monday that the letter had "raised the question of a possible racial motivation for his actions."

Zeleke, of Gladstone, was married and had two children. In addition to driving a shuttle bus part-time for The Parking Spot since late September, he did work for the Huntleigh Corp., a security firm that works for airlines, and was a cashier at a convenience store.

Police on Monday continued investigating where Zeleke got the handgun he used in the shootings. Officials for The Parking Spot said he was not issued a gun from their agency. Huntleigh Corp. officials confirmed that their employees are not allowed to carry guns.

The Star's Christine Vendel contributed to this article.

To reach Shawna A. Hamel, Northland police reporter, call (816) 234-5909 or send email to shamel@kcstar.com