Close Topic Options

Workers who turn into killers

Tuesday, July 8, 2003 Posted: 1:21 PM EDT (1721 GMT)

(CNN) -- Five people were shot dead Tuesday by a gunman who then killed himself at an aircraft parts plant near Meridian, Mississippi, a county sheriff told CNN.

Eight other people were injured by the man armed with a shotgun and a semiautomatic rifle, Lauderdale County Sheriff Billy Sollie said. They have been taken to local hospitals and some were in a critical condition, the sheriff added.

"He went through the entire plant, shooting individuals throughout the facility," Sollie said. "Several of the victims fell at their work stations."

Sollie said it appeared the gunman -- an employee at the plant -- was shooting randomly rather than targeting individual workers...

https://www.cnn.com/2003/US/South/07/08/pla...hoot/index.html

killers turn Workers

:USA: No where like the USA for these kinds of incidents where a supposedly 'typical' person suddenly walks into work or school and starts to kill people:

From Wolf Blitzer of CNN:

A worker armed with a shotgun and rifle went on a
shooting spree at a Lockheed Martin plant in Mississippi
today, killing five co-workers and wounding eight others
before turning the gun on himself. We'll bring you an update
on the investigation.

:rifle Are you scared about going to work? Is there someone that you feel weary about?  

Workers who turn into killers History & Civil Business Politics

I just heard about this a little while ago from a friend of mine.  Work related shootings are just horrible.  It also seems like they are on the rise.  Not just in Mississippi, but all over the US.  Employee or ex-employee work related shootings are becoming more and more of a problem in Mississippi.  But I think this is one of the first ones to make the national news.  It is scary to think that you would be working with someone one day and the next day, that same person comes to work and starts shooting at everyone.  These not only affect everyone at that place of business, but it also affects the town, and community as well.  Surely this guy had to have shown some kind of sign that he was a loose cannon ready to explode.

killers turn Workers

I don't feel scared about going to work everyday.  But, at times, emotions are high and everyone is stressed about making the shipping date.  But not once, in the time that I have been where I work at that I have felt like I was threatened about someone coming in one day and start shooting.  But I guess every work place is different.  I mean, where I work at, everyone knows everyone in one way or another.  The owner knows all the employees by name.  So, it's more like a 'family' workplace.  But I guess I would feel scared to go to work at like a big corporation or workplace.  Where people just work together and only speak if they have to speak.

killers turn Workers

Ok, I figured I would give a little update on the shooting in Merdian, Mississippi.  It was in today's local paper.  This is one of the stories that they had in the paper.  

Masacre in Meridian:

https://www.djournal.com/pages/story.asp?ID...&pub=1&div=News

There was also another article, but I just copied it into my post.  (I didn't want to put too many links in my post.)

Experts say communication vital in preventing workplace rage
7/9/2003 12:38:10 AM Daily Journal

BY GARY PERILLOUX Daily Journal

Several years ago, school shootings grabbed the headlines with frightening regularity. With Tuesday's shooting that killed six and wounded eight at Lockheed Martin in Meridian, the focus shifted to the workplace for the second time in a week.

A Jefferson City, Mo., manufacturing worker killed three and wounded five last week before taking his own life.

Above all, common sense should be used if there's any advance clue of an attack, said Matthew Lee, a Mississippi State University professor of sociology.

"I think in the name of trying to protect human life, it's always prudent to err on the side of caution and try to let someone in authority know or make them aware that somebody is potentially making threats," said Lee, who'll teach an elective course, "Violence in the U.S.," at MSU in the fall.

Randomness continues to apply to many workplace shootings, though some workers have faced looming disciplinary action or may have been motivated by hatred. Co-workers said Doug Williams, the Meridian shooter, had aired racist feelings and made threats against some employees.

"For me, I think the key is open lines of communication with employees and mid-level management," said Kent Kerley, an MSU sociologist who teaches a course on juvenile delinquency that focuses on school violence. He's also researched workplace violence. "If you can have programs dealing with stress management or conflict resolution or counseling programs - something that's available to individuals - that can potentially help."

In May 2000, Edward Stafford Knight killed one supervisor and wounded another at a Piper Impact plant in New Albany. Knight was sentenced to life in prison, though that case is on appeal and the company still faces civil litigation.

"The safety of our employees is always paramount," said Paul Giddens, a spokesman for Piper Impact's parent company, Quanex. Because the company is defending litigation related to the shooting, attorneys advised Piper and Quanex not to comment further.

Fred Dorn is a clinical professor in the University of Mississippi's School of Business who's also advised companies for 15 years through his Germantown, Tenn., firm, Career Management Resources.

"My encouragement to most of them has been in the downsizing, layoff and displacement area - that the best way to approach this is to be as open and direct and honest as possible," Dorn said. "Because the longer you let things smolder, the worse it gets."

In the aftermath of a workplace shooting, individual and group counseling are essential, he said. Psychological assessments by an outside consultant can be used to screen troubled employees while maintaining strict privacy, Dorn said.

But he advises against psychological profiling to pluck people from productive lives - a topic explored in the recent film, "Minority Report."

"We don't want to get to that point, because it's people's basic self-control that interferes with that kind of thinking - we've all had thoughts about expressing frustration and anger," Dorn said. "We want to protect people's privacy, but we also want to protect people. This is the discussion that's going on on a daily basis with relation to security in our country."

Lee suggests public violence tends to occur in spurts. Though he has no scientific evidence to back that up, he points to the wave of school shootings and other workplace trends. "Going postal" became part of our vocabulary, he said, but he couldn't remember the last time a postal worker carried out a mass shooting.

"The good news is that it's something that's rare enough that I don't think it's something we need to be particularly fearful of," Kerley said.

How rare are mass shootings?

Homicide rates in the United States have declined since 1993 to six per 100,000, Kerley said, with only 4 percent of homicides having multiple victims. Numbers are sketchy on how many are workplace shootings.

Appeared originally in the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, 7/9/2003 8:00:00 AM, section A , page 1

Workers who turn into killers

Thanks for the update Msslm. It's funny how in the beginning most of the workers were saying they did not know why this happened, but look here;

PLANT SHOOTER TOOK ANGER MANAGEMENT CLASS

The man who killed five coworkers and wounded nine at a Mississippi plant on
Tuesday went through anger management training a year and a half ago after
problems on the job, the company president said.
https://www.cnn.com/2003/US/South/07/09/pla...hoot/index.html

Workers turn killers

This is a little off topic, but not by much.  I work in a small furniture manufacturing plant.  It has a feel of a 'family' workplace, but even the smallest of businesses are not exempt from angry employees.  I am a supervisor over the quality and inspecting of the furniture that is made.  I have 3 inspectors including myself.  But let me get to my point.  

I had to fire one of my inspectors this afternoon due to what she told me during lunch.  This woman is having many problems, but she never seemed to bring them to work, until today.  She openly threatened to physically and violently kill another employee.  She also used much fowl language and many racial slurs, that I have never heard come out of this woman's mouth until today.  I tried to calm her down and tried to talk reasonably with her, but it was like arguing with a brick wall.  I then had to report to my supervisor.  We then had to have a meeting with the owner about the course of action needed to be taken.  We all agreed that we hated to fire this woman, but we could not tolerate such behavior and threats against other employees.  (Especially after what happened in Meridian.)  The owner said it would be best to just let her go.  Even if, by some wild chance, that she may have made her threats in a fit of anger, it still could not be ignored.  To be honest, it scared me to death.  Looking back on it now, I don't know how I managed to keep myself from just unwinding.

Workers turn killers Politics Business Civil & History

Isn't it interesting that you were saying how scary this would be if it happened? This is further proof that you really do not know the person working next to you. Make sure and becareful. Did you report this to the police?