On a Sunday afternoon in August 2007, worship at the First Congregational Church in Neosho, Missouri, was shattered when a man armed with two handguns, including a TEC-9, entered the sanctuary and ordered the children out. He then opened fire on senior members of the Micronesian congregation, killing three men, including 53-year-old associate pastor Kuhpes Jesse Ikosia, and wounding others before holding about 50 remaining worshippers hostage briefly.

Police negotiated with the gunman for roughly ten minutes; he ultimately surrendered and was taken into custody. Investigators determined the shooter was 52-year-old Eiken Elam Saimon and that the attack grew out of personal grievances and family disputes, including a quarrel over a community barbecue and allegations of a sexual assault on a teenage relative days earlier.

Saimon later pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree murder and related charges and received life terms.