As they await the return of his body to Arkansas, relatives of Clifford Lynn Draper say they're shocked by news that he was shot down Saturday while holding Salt Lake library patrons hostage.
Salt Lake County Sheriff's Lt. Lloyd Prescott infiltrated the circle of hostages and eventually shot Draper when he sensed the situation had turned deadly. Dressed in fatigues, Draper threatened to detonate a homemade bomb and also suggested the group would draw straws to determine who would die.In Newport, Ark., Draper's father learned of the incident from a television news report, according to a relative. The elder Draper had been ill in recent weeks and the news left him shaken, the relative said. When contacted Monday, Clifford Draper Sr. said he had talked to Salt Lake investigators and had nothing more to say about his son's role in the library siege.
"His father has been ill and is still ill - they didn't think he was going to make it," said Evelyn Draper, an aunt of the dead man. "His dad saw his picture on TV."
The woman said she last talked to Clifford Lynn Draper when he was a teenager.
"He was my husband's nephew, but I haven't seen much of him (since his teens)," she said. At that time, he was a sweet, bright boy, she said.
Evelyn Draper said she doesn't know how he changed into a man who threatened the lives of 18 hostages in Salt Lake City.
One of four children, Clifford Lynn Draper was raised by a stepmother and his father after his mother died when he was a child, she said. Draper was placed in rehabilitation but walked away at least once, Evelyn Draper said.
He worked in Utah as a bell-ringer for the Salvation Army for three weeks during the Christmas season. He was hired after responding to job notices placed at posts across the valley and in shelters, said Jeff Shoop, director of human resources for the Salvation Army.
First stationed at a Smith's Food & Drug Center in Murray, 665 W. 5300 South, Draper was relocated after store personnel complained of his "bizarre behavior," Shoop said.
Employees and the store director refused to comment about Draper on Monday.
"I didn't know it was that bizarre," Shoop said, adding he warned the man after the complaint and decided to relocate him to another store.
Initially, "he got a bit defensive, really denied the allegations by the store," Shoop said. But Draper soon quieted down and told Shoop there wouldn't be further problems.
Then, "he got tired of the whole thing" and quit the job, Shoop said.
Draper's troubled life ended nearly 51/2 hours after he gathered hostages into a conference room at the Salt Lake City Library on Saturday. Prescott fired three shots at Draper, striking him in the chest. The man died at LDS Hospital.
Hailed as a hero, Prescott was sought out for national exposure the next day. Officials from the "Today Show" requested that Prescott appear Monday on the television program. Invitations from several other national news organizations followed, but Prescott declined to appear.
He's not looking for publicity, said sheriff's spokesman Jim Potter.
"He's real humble in that respect," said Potter. "As far as he's concerned, he just did his job."
The Salt Lake County attorney's office has instructed Prescott not to speak to the press yet.