Racist hothead’ kills five

A FACTORY worker known as a “racist hothead” who talked about killing people opened fire with a shotgun at an aircraft parts plant, leaving five fellow employees dead before committing suicide.

Dozens of employees at the aircraft parts plant in Meridian, Mississippi, frantically ran for cover yesterday after Doug Williams, dressed in a black T-shirt and camouflage pants, started firing. The rampage occurred after Williams attended a meeting on workplace ethics.

Nine people were injured, including one critically.

Exactly what set Williams off was not immediately clear, but co-workers said the 48-year-old assembler had clashed with management and several fellow employees.

“Mr Williams was mad at the world. This man had an issue with everybody,” said co-worker Hubert Threat.

“It’s not just about race. It was just the excuse he was looking for.”

Williams was white and four of his victims were black.

Sheriff Billy Sollie said it appeared Williams fired at random with the shotgun and the semi-automatic rifle. Several co-workers said they were not surprised when Williams was identified as the killer.

“When I first heard about it, he was the first thing that came to my mind,” said Jim Payton, who is retired from the plant but had worked with Williams for about a year.

Mr Steverson said Williams was known as a racist who did not like blacks. And Payton had said Williams had talked about wanting to kill people.

One of those killed was Lanette McCall, a black woman who had worked at the plant 15 years. Her husband, Bobby McCall, said she expected Williams to harm someone someday.

“She said he made a threat against black people,” a distraught Mr McCall said.

Russell Wright, who works at the plant but was not there yesterday, described Williams as “a hothead”.