U.S. Rep. Howard Coble speaking on the House floor today, praised the staff and residents of the Pinelake Health & Rehabilitation Center in Carthage for responding "very effectively and professionally" on March 29 when a lone gunman killed eight people, according to a release from Coble's office.

Coble also told his House colleagues that the law enforcement community and the citizens of Carthage and Moore County were "equally professional and effective" on that dreadful day.

"This cruel and unforgivable act imposed upon Pinelake that day," Coble noted, "did not succeed in defeating the spirit of the Pinelake facility, Carthage and Moore County. Mr. Speaker, we extend our condolences to the survivors of the eight whose lives were so brutally taken on that ill-fated day."