JOPLIN, Mo. (AP) – A Joplin man who wounded five people in random shootings has been found not guilty by reason of insanity.
Attorneys for Tom Mourning Jr., 31, had argued for years that he was schizophrenic and did not understand his actions when he shot at two vehicles on Aug. 13, 2016, in Joplin. Five people were shot or hit by shrapnel but all survived.
Mourning had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. After a hearing last week, Judge Gayle Crane accepted the plea. Prosecutors did not oppose the plea, The Joplin Globe reported.
Kimberly Fisher, the assistant Jasper County prosecutor who tried the case, said all doctors who have evaluated Mourning concurred that he was mentally ill at the time of the shootings.
He will remain in custody of the Department of Mental Health.
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