Neighborhood disrupted by killings

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

http://www.thejournalnet.com/Main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=113&ArticleID=39316

Oct. 21, 2003 Neighbors gathered in small groups around the home where a Franklin man and his two small children were discovered dead Monday afternoon.

Residents just arriving home in the Knollwood Farms subdivision were somberly given the news by others standing on sidewalks and front lawns. A few had been home since tactical team members approached the home at the corner of Magnolia and Fair Oaks drives earlier that afternoon.

“I was mowing my yard,” Kevin Ridge said. “I looked up and saw the SWAT team, and I knew something big was going on.”

Next-door neighbor P.J. Benson was home sick from work Monday and watched the events unfold. He was putting dishes in his kitchen sink when he looked out the window and saw police officers walking through his front yard.

When he went outside to see what was going on, police told him to stay inside, he said. Benson said tactical team members tried to negotiate with the suspect from his open garage using a bullhorn but got no response.
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