Ranger suspects murder-suicide in hunting club shooting deaths

SABINE COUNTY - by Mike Lout/KJAS - Texas Ranger Danny Young said Monday that it appeared that two shooting deaths that occurred on Sunday in nearby Sabine County are a case of murder-suicide. However, Young said the investigation into the incident was continuing.

Young said he and others believed that 61 year old Kenneth Wayne Cooley of Lake Charles shot 50 year old Michael Furney of Seabrook at least three times with a .22 caliber rifle at a deer camp just off of Farm to Market Road 330 before returning to his motor home and turning a gun on himself.

The initial shooting occurred shortly before 4:00 pm and officers from the Sabine County Sheriff's Department were reportedly looking for Cooley when they discovered his body at his motor home not far from where Furney was shot. Young said both shootings occurred at what was known as the Whitetail Ridge Hunting Club in the northwest part of the County.

Both Cooley and Furney were pronounced dead by Sabine County Precinct 2 Justice of the Peace Jamie Brasher. Their bodies were taken to Starr Funeral Home in Hemphill.