KIRKWOOD, Mo. (AP) -- No one may ever know what drove Charles Lee "Cookie" Thornton to shoot and kill five people at a city council meeting in the St. Louis suburb of Kirkwood.

But those who knew him well say a history of strained race relations between mostly white Kirkwood and its historically black neighborhood, Meacham Park, might hint at the motive.

Thornton lived and ran a business in Meacham Park, which Kirkwood annexed more than a decade ago. Many of its homes were leveled for a commercial development.

He amassed $20,000 in fines for parking and code violations, and though the city eventually offered to waive them, Thornton wanted apologies for what he saw as an injustice.

City Attorney John Hessel said this wasn't about race. Thornton was solely to blame.

One friend, a white man, says the city abused its authority.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)