SAMSON , Alabama ( CNN ) -- The man who killed 10 people , then himself , in a shooting rampage in southern Alabama had failed in his dreams both to become a U.S. Marine and a police officer , and was depressed and unhappy with his life , investigators said Thursday . The shooter , Michael McLendon , killed his mother before killing others . Michael McLendon , 28 , fatally shot his mother in his hometown of Kinston on Tuesday before driving to nearby Samson and Geneva , killing nine more , then fatally shooting himself after a shootout with police . Authorities are calling it the deadliest single assault in recorded Alabama history . `` He was going to go until he was stopped , by himself or someone else , '' said Col. Chris Murphy of the Alabama Department of Public Safety . `` He had obviously planned to go out in grand style . '' McLendon left behind a letter , apparently after killing his mother , that described how he did so and saying that he planned to kill himself , according to Murphy . The letter `` describes how McLendon harbored ill feelings toward family members due to a family dispute . '' McLendon -- a self-proclaimed survivalist who was known to train with the rifles he used in the shooting spree -- enlisted in the Marines in 1999 , but was kicked out one month later for `` fraudulent enlistment , '' Murphy said . He was hired as a police officer in 2003 , but let go a month later for what Murphy called physical issues . The nearly hourlong assault ended 24 miles from where it began at Reliable Metal Products plant in Geneva , where McLendon had worked in 2003 . `` McLendon made statements of being depressed and was dissatisfied with his present position in life , '' Murphy said . `` His dream was to become a Marine , and later a police officer . Both those dreams were unfulfilled . '' McLendon was armed with two assault rifles -- an SKS and a Bushmaster -- and two pistols , and a shotgun was found in his car . `` At this time , we believe that he fired in excess of 200 rounds during the assaults , '' the Department of Public Safety said in a news release . McLendon had no known criminal record before carrying out the rampage , officials said . Coffee County district attorney Gary McAliley said neighbors and co-workers described McLendon as quiet and shy . Some neighbors complained that he was always shooting firearms behind his home , he said -- but feared only that McLendon would accidentally kill one of their cows . Watch how the shaken towns are trying to cope » . Co-workers at Kelley Foods , where he unexpectedly resigned last week , said they had a nickname for him -- Doughboy -- that he did n't like . `` I do n't think anybody could have anticipated this by looking at him and interacting with him , '' McAliley said . `` But , certainly he had a volcano inside of him . '' McLendon called the Samson City Hall about 1 p.m. Tuesday and asked whether the city council would be meeting in the evening , Michelle Flanery , magistrate and billing clerk , told CNN Radio . Flanery said she replied that there was no meeting scheduled that day and that McLendon thanked her before hanging up . Authorities said McLendon also had a list of current and former co-workers , some whose names were accompanied by notes on ways he felt they 'd wronged him . But the note was not a `` hit list , '' as had been reported , and none of the people whose names were listed were attacked , they said . View images from the rampage » . Among the dead were the wife and toddler of Geneva County Sheriff 's Deputy Josh Myers , who was involved in the standoff with McLendon before he realized his own loss . His 3-month-old daughter , Ella , was also wounded . She was rescued by a neighbor and released from a hospital in Pensacola , Florida , Thursday evening . The shootings rattled Samson and Geneva , neither of which has a population beyond 4,500 people , and sent shock waves outside the small towns affected . `` This event formed the single deadliest crime recorded in Alabama , '' said Murphy of the Department of Public Safety . Alabama Gov . Bob Riley arrived in Geneva County on Wednesday afternoon , pledging support to the community and members of law enforcement . `` I think it 's a combination of just shock and disbelief , '' said Riley , a native of Ashland , Alabama , population 2,500 , in east Alabama . `` I live in a little small town about like this , and I know what it would be like in my community . It really is devastating to a community this size . '' Watch the governor respond to the rampage » . `` This does n't happen in small towns , and all of a sudden you begin to understand that you really do have the same problems in some of these small towns you have in other parts of the country . ''
NEW : Michael McLendon left behind note describing ill will he harbored toward family . NEW : McLendon was going to continue `` until he was stopped , '' investigator says . McLendon killed two people in 10 towns before killing himself . Michael McLendon unhappy with failed efforts to become Bushmaster , police officer , police say .