On February 26, 2015, a series of fatal shootings unfolded across Tyrone, Missouri, an unincorporated rural community in Texas County. Law enforcement first became aware of the violence at approximately 10:15 p.m. Central Time, when a 15-year-old girl ran to a neighbor’s home and reported that she had heard gunshots inside her house and fled for safety.
Deputies responded and found Garold Dee Aldridge and Julie Ann Aldridge dead inside the residence, both having been shot. About a quarter mile away, officers located Harold Wayne Aldridge and Janell Arlisa Aldridge shot to death inside their bedroom. With multiple victims discovered in separate homes, authorities expanded their response by checking additional residences throughout Tyrone and warning community members to stay inside and lock their doors.
Less than three miles from the first locations, deputies discovered Darrell Dean Shriver and Martha Shriver shot inside their home. Darrell Shriver died from his injuries, while Martha Shriver survived. As she was being transported for medical care in Springfield, she identified Joseph Jesse Aldridge as the shooter. She then asked that a relative check on her son, Carey Dean Shriver, and his family. When the relative arrived, Carey Shriver and his wife, Valirea Love Shriver, were found shot to death on the floor of their bedroom. Their child was located asleep and unharmed in another room.
Investigators determined that the shootings occurred within an area of roughly three miles. They also reported that the crime scenes showed no signs of forced entry, which suggested that the attacker may have been known to the victims or was allowed access to the homes.
Authorities also reviewed the death of Aldridge’s mother, Alice L. Aldridge (74), who was found dead on a couch. Early reporting raised the possibility that her death may have occurred shortly before the shootings and may have been connected to the start of the violence, but that specific sequence was not confirmed as fact. An autopsy later determined that she died from metastatic cancer, and her death was treated as natural causes, although a relative expressed concern that foul play may have been involved.
At approximately 5:30 a.m. on February 27, 2015, Joseph Jesse Aldridge was found dead inside a pickup truck stopped in the middle of a two-lane highway in Shannon County, southeast of Summersville and roughly 15 to 20 miles from the shooting scenes. He had died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Investigators recovered a Rock Island Armory 1911 .45-caliber handgun from the vehicle, along with ammunition, and the handgun was believed to have been used in the shootings. Authorities later described the incident as the worst mass murder in the recorded history of Texas County, Missouri, which previously averaged about one homicide per year.