Wife of Missouri shooter a St. Petersburg principal

ST. PETERSBURG -- The man who killed five people at a City Council meeting Thursday in a St. Louis suburb is married to a well-respected St. Petersburg middle school principal.

Records show Charles Lee "Cookie'' Thornton and Maureen Thornton, principal of John Hopkins Middle School, were married Aug. 26, 1995, in St. Louis.

Efforts to reach Mrs. Thornton were not successful. No one answered a knock on the door this morning of the home where she lives in the Lake Maggiore neighborhood.

Pinellas County School District spokeswoman Andrea Zahn said Mrs. Thornton was out of town.

On Thursday, Charles Thornton stormed into a council meeting in the suburb of Kirkwood, about 20 miles west of St. Louis, yelled "Shoot the mayor!'' and opened fire. He killed two police officers and three city officials before police fatally shot him.

The shooting was the culmination of a long-running dispute Thornton had with city officials.

Thornton, who owned a construction business, was a city gadfly who recently lost a federal lawsuit against Kirkwood in which he claimed the city officials harassed him and violated his rights.

But records show Mrs. Thornton has been in Pinellas County since at least June 2005, when she was named principal of the performing arts magnet school.

The school's Web site says Mrs. Thornton was an assistant principal at a Ballwin, Mo., middle school and a teacher at a Kirkwood, Mo., middle school before moving to Pinellas County.

Mrs. Thornton bought the St. Petersburg home in May 2007.

A neighbor, Phyllis Campbell, said she rarely saw Mrs. Thornton. But she said she saw Charles Thornton and his mother at the home around the Christmas holidays.

"They seemed like nice people,'' she said.

- Melanie Ave and Angie Drobnic-Holan, Times staff writers

Comments

[Jo]

My god, this poor woman has enough trouble. Leave her alone. There is probably a good reason she is working here and not up there.

[ct]

No Doubt I agree with Jo... she was obviously not with this man any longer. Leave her alone.

[Harold]

Obviously, Mrs. Thornton has not committed a criminal act, so why are you looking for her? She is not considered a gadfly in your "small town". For God Sake, leave this women alone so that she can continue to facilitate in moding minds in our society.

[cutter]

My God, Leave this woman in peace. Why does the media act like a frenzied bunch of vultures.?/ This woman has done nothing wrong and apparently had distanced herself from this man. Let it rest already.

[DJ]

You all know NOTHING about this woman (other than what's been reported). Besides, there's a local angle here, and it's the paper's job to examine it. Furthermore, no one can interview "Cookie" (obviously) for any insight--and who'd know him better? ... Get off your slam-the-media high horses people!

[Mo]

I'm not here to "slam" the media but I do wonder why they are listing all this woman's personal information as to how long she's worked at what school and when she purchased her home. You'd think she'd shot someone. It is apparent the woman wasn't with him so why is the Times printing all this woman's information?

[K]

What does the local connection have to do with what this man did? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! This is not news ....

[Biff]

The lengths CUB reporters will go to in order to get their name on a story.......

I bet they vote democrat.......

[Jon]

All journalist know the golden rule when it comes to selling pagpers - blood sells.

[franklin]

it's dick cheney's fault

It's Charlie Crist's fault.

Hmmmm

Personally, I blame Global Warming.

[Jose]

Could happen here. Especially with the Rays' stadium that's got everybody in a froth

Excellent investigative reporting!

[Gilbert Ford]

Hey St. Pete Times and DJ, I don't suppose you all have a squeaky clean image that would stand up to this unnecessary scrutiny that you are heaping on this woman, ha? Remember this: "when you point your finger at someone three of your own fingers are pointing back at you"! Sad state of minds we humans display.

[mimi]

What if he moved with her?What if he attended a local city council meeting,what if she moved some where else,what if he were the principal and she were the shooter?I mean the possibilities are all so frightening!

[DJ]

Hey Gilbert,
No one's pointing a finger at Mrs. Thornton; in fact, I feel horrible for her. I do, however, take exception to anyone who'd take to task a journalist who is simply doing his/her job to report on a news event with a local angle. What's your problem with that? Furthermore, how would you like someone with no credibility regarding the industry in which you work to criticize the way you do your job? Just because you've read a newspaper doesn't mean you know anything about journalism. BTW, what DO you do?

[DJ]

Biff,
A cub reporter is a rookie, a newbie, someone who's brand-new to the newsroom. Now, I don't know about Ms. Drobnic-Holan, but I believe Ms. Ave has been in journalism for probably three-times as many years as you have letters in your name.

[Jose]

Could happen here. Especially with the Rays' stadium that's got everybody in a froth

[Jamie]

Hey DJ, It's the job of the police to do the investigating not the St. Pete times. I agree with everyone else here. All the media here wants to do is find a local angle and exploit it. Very tragic situation... Just leave it at that.

[geo]

oj did it

[mullet nuts]

HEY TEACHERS, LEAVE THOSE KIDS ALONE.

[A parent of one of Mrs. Thornton's students]

My child is a student at Mrs. Thornton's school. She is a very respectable, and classy woman. Give this lady the respect she deserves. Media folks, don't act the paparazzi that follows Britney Spears. She doesn't deserve that. How would you feel if you had a loved one in this position?

Mrs. Thornton, JHOP loves you. You are in our thoughts and prayers.

[Uncle Sam]

Every nickel she earns for the rest of her life and those nickels her children earn (hopefully she has none) needs to be given back to the families of those innocent people killed by that racist monster! She has to pay!!

[Ballwin]

Uncle Sam: Why would she have to pay "every nickel" to those families? It was unfortunate and wrong for this man to commit those murders and yes they were MURDERS, but his estranged wife had nothing to do with it.

[Sammy your not in Alabammy!]

Sam sounds either dumb or racist himself by suggesting the wife of the murderer be punished for what her husband did 1100 miles away. She is an educator in our community that happened to marry a man who snapped. She had nothing to do with it. Should the shooters first wife pay as well? If she was divorced or separated from him would she still have to pay every nickel? Search your issues Sam. Nothing will bring those innocent victims back. Everyone loses here, it is beyond tragedy.

Mrs Thornton is an intellegent, respectful educator. She is my former principle; I moved and transfered schools, but she's still my teacher. She has more class than anybody out there! You have to be crazy to blame her, she didnt pull the trigger, she had nothing to do with this crime! Everyone loses, don't you get it? Dont make it harder for her or anybody else who may be suffering as well!

JHOP loves you Mrs. Thornton!

[mike]

You reporters are some big stupid morons , Leave her alone.

[Protect our Children]

IF you defend your disgusting husbands actions, wich she has, you are just as insane and have no business teaching children.

[BLARG YOU DIRTY PANZIEZ!]

yes, she had nothing to do with it, so leave her alone we love you mrs. thorton ROCK ON

[CourtyXOXO]

Protect our Children,

How do you know she's defending her late husband?!?! Take it from some one who personally knows her. . she's scared and is confused! Shut up and leave her alone!!!

[OMG!]

OMGO! OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG!

[OMG!]

fagfkdsbhsdlkfbsdlfbksdb fksbdksbksbkfuckyoufbksbdfklbsdkfbskdfbksdkbfksjdbnfksbfksbfksbjdkfsbkljsjbkdsbkdsbdskbdsfkfdblkadbskfldsbksdjbfksdbfkdsb

[parent of a jhop magnet student]

I hope Ms. Thornton- that you can see beyond the small minds here and know that we respect your dignity and your honor, and offer our condolences to you and your families during this very tragic time. Your leadership is the springboard for our students! We offer our prayers.

[M. Avery]

I have known Maureen and Cookie for years and you couldn't find a more fun loving couple anywhere. Every person in this world has a point of no return, although most of us never reach it. Cookie was fighting a pain that not even his closet friends and family knew about. However, my prayer is that you please allow Maureen to heal when she returns to your city. The pain of losing a loved one is great enough, and having the pain of living with what her husband did to the other families will weigh heavy on her for a life time. I pray that the school district will comfort her and provide a safe place for her and not join in with the people who will stop at nothing to find a fault in her. Please look at her through the same eyes that you looked at her through before this ever happened because she found out about this tragedy at the same time that most of us did. Maureen has always been a strong and positive person and I love her for that. Her character never waivers and her love for the Lord will get her through this tragic time. He will build her up and give her what is needed to stand strong when she returns to Florida. Thank you ahead of time for taking care of her for us.