Nine die as warehouse driver goes on rampage

A WAREHOUSE driver who was asked to resign his job at a beer distributor went on a shooting rampage yesterday morning that left nine people dead, including himself, and others wounded, company and government officials said.

The number of dead was confirmed by a Connecticut government official, who was not authorised to speak publicly.

Authorities were notifying victims’ relatives before confirming the number of deaths, said Lt J Paul Vance of the state police.

The driver, Omar Thornton, had worked at the distributor for a couple of years and had been called in for a disciplinary hearing, according to John Hollis of the Connecticut Teamsters, who was with company officials at the scene of the shooting.

Hollis would not say why Thornton was being disciplined.

However, it was reported that he had been accused of stealing beer.

When police found him, he had been shot, said Lt Joe San Antonio of Manchester police.

About 50 to 70 people were in the warehouse during a shift change when the gunman opened fire around 7am, said Brett Hollander, whose family owns Hartford Distributors. Adding to the chaos was a fire at the warehouse, about 15km east of Hartford, that was put out. Police did not know whether the fire was related to the shootings.

Among the victims was Hollander’s cousin, a vice-president at the company, who was shot in the arm and the face. Hollander said he thought his cousin would pull through

“There was a guy that was supposed to, was asked to resign, to come in to resign and chose not to and shot my cousin and my co-workers,” Brett Hollander said.

Joanne Hannah told the Hartford Courant her daughter Kristi had dated Thornton for eight years.

Thornton, who is black, had complained about being racially harassed at work, Hannah said. Thornton complained to his superiors, who did nothing about it, she said her daughter told her.

Two victims were taken to Hartford Hospital, spokeswoman Michaela Donnelly said. One was in critical condition, and one was in fair condition. Families of workers gathered at the town high school to wait for information and comfort each other.

The rampage was the nation’s deadliest since 13 people were fatally shot at Fort Hood, Texas, last November. A military psychiatrist is charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder in that case.

It was the worst workplace shooting in Connecticut since 1998, when a state lottery worker gunned down four supervisors before committing suicide.

Police officers from numerous agencies and police and fire vehicles surrounded the warehouse, on a tree-lined road in an industrial park just west of a shopping mall.

In a statement, the governor of Connecticut, M Jodi Rell, offered condolences to the victims’ families and co-workers.

“We are all left asking the same questions: How could someone do this? Why did they do this?” she said.