Joplin police say girl’s death a suicide case

Memorial Day travelers bemoan high gas prices

Norm Hayward and his wife, Claudia, have a couple of things going for them as they continue their increasingly expensive motor home trip around parts of the United States. For starters, the Phoenix, Ariz., couple are saving on hotel costs.

Crime & Courts

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March 18, 2013

Joplin police say girl’s death a suicide case

From staff reports news@joplinglobe.com The Joplin Globe Mon Mar 18, 2013, 11:59 PM CDT

A 16-year-old girl died Sunday of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to Joplin police.

Brooke H. Russell was pronounced dead at the emergency room of Freeman Hospital West, where she was taken by an ambulance following the shooting in Roanoke Park near the intersection of North Byers Avenue and Islington Place.

Police Lt. Brian Lewis said police dispatchers began receiving calls about the shooting at 9:05 p.m., and an ambulance met family members seeking medical assistance for the girl at Third Street and Virginia Avenue, and took her the remainder of the way to the hospital.

Lewis said the apparent suicide remains under investigation, with an autopsy to be conducted today in Springfield.

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