Former Trooper Bart Cunningham: Charged with domestic violence - Dec 2007
"Bart Cunningham enlisted as a state police trooper in 1996, but resigned in 2004 while assigned to the Kalkaska post...." [The Grand Rapids Press]
"...A jury convicted him on a charge of domestic violence against Wendy Cunningham based on a December 2007 incident...." [WOODTV NEWS]
...Court records of the 2007 incident obtained by 24 Hour News 8 show Wendy Cunningham called police claiming to have been assaulted,but officers testified they did not find any evidence of injury. In court, Wendy Cunningham said he grabbed at her hand but she did not remember much of the incident. Bart Cunningham testified that he tried to grab his wife's purse and she hit him back...." [WOODTV NEWS]
Police say Ionia teen was on phone with 911 as former Michigan state trooper shot stepson, her mother, himself
The Grand Rapids Press
February 26, 2010, 8:00PM
http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2010/02/police_say_ionia_teen_was_on_p.html
A body is removed Friday from an Ionia on Baldie Street where police say a mother and son were shot by a former state police trooper. Police say the shooter killed himself in the home. [Rex Larsen. The Grand Rapids Press]
IONIA -- In the little city of Ionia, the Cunningham family has long been a well-known part of the community.
But inside their tidy white house early Friday, authorities say a domestic nightmare played out.
While a 13-year-old girl hid in a bedroom, she relayed to emergency dispatchers the deadly events she could hear transpiring beyond her locked door.
FORMER TROOPER BART CUNNINGHAM.
Police say Bart Cunningham, 37, a former state police trooper, shot and injured his stepson, 16-year-old Joshua Snyder, and the teen's mother, 42-year-old Wendy Cunningham. Bart Cunningham then fatally turned the gun on himself, police said.
Authorities were alerted to the incident about 4:30 a.m., when Joshua's younger sister inside the home called police.
She helped provide information for members of an Ionia County tactical team, which took about an hour before entering the home at 418 Baldie St., said David Bulling, director of the Ionia Department of Public Safety.
In the house, police found Bart Cunningham dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, and the mother and son suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. Police say two guns were likely involved.
Ionia shooting press conference
Wendy Cunningham and her son were taken by helicopter to Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital.
They were listed in serious condition.
The incident started as a domestic dispute, police said.
Barb Lower, 83, lives near the home where the shooting occurred.
[Rex Larsen The Grand Rapids Press]
Barb Lower, 83, who lives across the street from the Cunninghams, said she would see their children playing and riding skateboards. "It's shocking, especially in a neighborhood like this," said Lower, who has lived in the house for more than 50 years.
Bart Cunningham enlisted as a state police trooper in 1996, but resigned in 2004 while assigned to the Kalkaska post.
In 2002, Kalkaska police arrested Cunningham on a high-court misdemeanor of fourth-degree criminal-sexual conduct, state police records show. He pled guilty in 2003 to assault and battery and attempted fourth-degree criminal-sexual conduct, and was sentenced to 18 months on probation.
In late December 2007, he was arrested in Ionia for domestic violence. He was sentenced to 12 days in jail, and 12 months on probation.
Court records show Wendy Cunningham also has had recent brushes with the law.
Wendy Cunningham had a 2004 conviction for domestic violence, and 2008 conviction for allowing alcohol or drug consumption by minors. Records showed she was arrested last year for using false or forged prescriptions to obtain controlled substances.
Early Friday, police called Ionia Public Schools leaders, letting them know what had happened, according to Ben Kirby, an assistant superintendent.
The schools on Friday tried to help students and teachers who know the teens involved, and also to stem the tide of speculation that flooded student cell phones, which are supposed to be kept in lockers.
Kirby said counselors will remain in place Monday and that the two students are long-time members of the school community.
"There is quite a connection in the community with that family," said Kirby.
"The kids are well-known and well-respected among students and teachers, as well."
Former MSP trooper shoots 2, kills self
Everybody is relatedWOOD TV News
Feb 26, 2010
http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/local/central_mich/shooting-in-ionia
IONIA, Mich. (WOOD) - Investigators identified Bart Cunningham, 37, Friday afternoon as the man who shot two relatives at their Ionia home early Friday morning before committing suicide.
Cunnningham's wife, 42-year-old Wendy Cunningham, and her 16-year-old son were shot multiple times but are expected to live Ionia Public Safety Director David Bulling said Friday afternoon.
Bulling said the incident was the result of a domestic situation, but did not release further details.
Bart Cunningham was a former Michigan State Police trooper, a department spokeswoman told 24 Hour News 8. He had served only at the Kalkaska Post and resigned in 2004, she said.
The 37-year-old has a fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct conviction on his record, tied to a May 2002 incident.
A jury convicted him on a charge of domestic violence against Wendy Cunningham based on a December 2007 incident.
Court records of the 2007 incident obtained by 24 Hour News 8 show Wendy Cunningham called police claiming to have been assaulted,but officers testified they did not find any evidence of injury. In court, Wendy Cunningham said he grabbed at her hand but she did not remember much of the incident. Bart Cunningham testified that he tried to grab his wife's purse and she hit him back.
Public safety officers were first called to the home in the 400 block of Baldie Street east of downtown Ionia around 4:30 a.m.
"Once officers were on scene, they were able to make contact with a 13-year-old that was still in the home," Bulling said Friday morning. The 13-year-old was Bart and Wendy Cunningham's daughter, investigators said, and was not hurt in the incidents. She is now staying with other relatives, they said.
Roughly 50 minutes later, the county's critical incident team -- made up of public safety officers and sheriff's department personnel -- entered the home, Bulling said. Investigators found "one deceased individual," he said. "At this time, the initial investigation has shown that person to be the shooter."
The two victims had multiple gunshot wounds and were taken from the scene by air, he said.
The Michigan State Police crime lab was called to the scene to investigate.
Some streets in the area were closed for a time and nearby Saints Peter and Paul school, which served as a staging area for police, canceled school Friday.
