Molester Shoots Social Workers, Himself

A man on probation for child molesting made an appointment to see his counselor and probation officer and then killed both men Monday before shooting himself to death, police said.

Gary Wright fired four shots from a 9 mm pistol and killed probation officer Donald R. Knepple, 38, and counselor Steven Tielker, 41, both of Fort Wayne, Sgt. Bill Walsh said.

A witness “said there was no loud talking, no arguing, nothing to indicate there was anything wrong until they heard the gunshots,” Walsh said. There were seven other workers and a client at Family and Children’s Services Inc. when the shooting began.

Wright, 45, who had been receiving counseling at the center, had called and asked for a meeting with Tielker and Knepple, Walsh said.

About a half hour after Wright arrived, people in the center heard gunshots. Police say Wright then came out of an office, went into another office, shut the door and turned the gun on himself.

Police don’t know why he asked for the meeting, Walsh said.

“It’s kind of a mystery to us what angered him to this point,” he said.

Wright was convicted in January 1996 of three counts of child molestation, Walsh said. He was placed on probation for four years.