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Accused Gunman Targeted 'Non-Whites,' Jews In Spree

2 People Killed, 1 Wounded In Brockton Spree

POSTED: 11:34 am EST January 22, 2009
UPDATED: 5:48 pm EST January 22, 2009

A Brockton man accused of killing two people and wounding a third told police he wanted to kill as many Jews, blacks and "non-white" people as possible before turning the gun on himself.

Accused Gunman Targeted 'Non-Whites' In Rampage | Brockton Shooting Suspect Flees Police

Keith Luke, 22, was arrested Wednesday, suspected of shooting three people on Clinton Street, killing two of them, including his former neighbor and a homeless man who was pushing a shopping cart filled with cans, and leading police on a chase through Brockton.

"(Luke's) evil plan by his own admission (had) the defendant armed with a handgun, killing as many Jews, blacks and Hispanics as humanly possible yesterday before killing himself," prosecutor Frank J. Middleton said.

Luke purchased a 9 mm handgun and 200 rounds of ammunition about six months ago, the Brockton Enterprise reported.

The first stop in Luke's plan was at his former apartment building at 103 Clinton St., and his target was his former neighbor, Selma Goncalves, 20, prosecutors said. The woman's older sister answered the door.

"He was able to easily overpower the much smaller woman and handcuff her hands behind her back. At this point, he proceeded to sodomize this poor girl for 20 to 25 minutes in her own apartment," Middleton said.

During the alleged assault, Goncalves returned home. Luke then shot her and returned to her sister and shot her as well, prosecutors said.

Goncalves then staggered out of the building and cried for help. Several people rushed to her aid.

"And according to the defendant himself, while seated in the van, he then pointed at the gun at the group that was offering aid to Selma Goncalves who was dying on the sidewalk and fired several more shots in their direction attempting to kill the non-white person who was attending to Selma," Middleton said.

Arlindo Depina Goncalves, 72, a homeless man who is not related to the other victims', was killed.

"He went up to the man with his handgun, walked up to point-blank range and shot this man in the head. He said he was surprised he didn’t go down immediately and shot him a second time in the back," Middleton said.

Luke was arraigned Thursday on two counts of murder, three counts of armed assault with intent to murder, one count of aggravated rape, one count of kidnapping and one count of unlawful possession of a firearm. He was ordered held without bail and sent to Bridgewater State Hospital for an evaluation.

"I don’t know. I can't believe it. I mean, I loved her very much," Goncalves' cousin, Cerino Amada.

Selma Goncalves' older sister was listed in critical but stable condition at a local hospital.


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