News: Texan Offers Apology; Winn Par., Louisiana
Submitter: Shawn Martin
Source: Dallas Morning News; Dallas, Texas
Date: 01 Mar 2008
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Dallas Morning News – 2/14/1969
Texan Offers Apology After Shooting Spree
   SIKES, La. (UPI)—After terrorizing this small Northwest 
Louisiana town with a high-powered rifle for more than six 
hours Thursday, Charles Underwood, a Fort worth shoe 
salesman, laughed and told officers, “I’m sorry I caused you 
trouble.”
   Winn Parish sheriff Sanford Jordan and Deputy Van Beasley 
were wounded during the incident in which Underwood, a former
 mental patient, apparently went berserk and roamed the 
streets in a convertible, firing the rifle as he drove.  
Sanford was hit in the right hand by bullet fragments and 
Beasley was wounded in the left arm.
   Underwood, 32, a former Winn Parish resident whose parents 
live in Sikes, took two female cousins with him on the terror 
ride that started about 9a.m.
   He released the “hostages,” apparently unharmed, in a 
wooded area and took refuge in a barn on a relative’s farm 
around 3:30 p.m.  shortly afterwards, Underwood came out of 
the barn laughing, offered his apology and gave up with no 
resistance.
   Stores in Sikes were closed most of the day and citizens 
were afraid to go out.  School children were kept indoors 
during recess and lunch hours.