Grudges Led Mich. Man to Kill 2, Police Say

OWOSSO, Mich., Sept. 11 -- A man who carried grudges against several people in town allegedly set off on a shooting spree Friday, killing two, authorities said. Among the victims were an abortion protester outside a school, shot because the suspect reportedly did not like that the activist carried a sign with graphic images of a fetus in front of students.

The gunman then allegedly drove to a gravel pit and shot and killed the owner, apparently for different reasons, police said. Authorities think they stopped a third killing by catching up with the gunman before he could pull the trigger.

"The defendant had ill will toward these three individuals -- not for the same reason necessarily, but had a grudge," Shiawassee County Prosecutor Randy Colbry said.

It started about 7:20 a.m. across the street at the high school, where James Pouillon stood with a sign that pictured a chubby-cheeked baby with the word "LIFE" on one side and an image of an aborted fetus with the word "ABORTION" on the other. Pouillon was a well-known activist in the town of 15,000.

Harlan James Drake, 33, drove by the school Friday and allegedly shot Pouillon in front of students and parents, Colbry said. Prosecutors said they did not know whether Drake knew the victim personally.

Witnesses at the school gave police the vehicle's license plate number. Authorities traced it to Drake's home in Owosso, officials said.

After Drake left the school, he drove seven miles to the Fuoss Gravel Co., where he allegedly shot Mike Fuoss in his office, authorities said. The two men knew each other, but officials did not say how.

Drake was charged Friday with first-degree murder in the deaths of Pouillon and Fuoss, 61.