Gunman Kills 5 Co-Workers, Self [he'd been to "threat assessment counseling"]

LA Times ^ | 7/9/03 | Scott Gold and Lianne Hart

[Chancellor Palpatine]

MERIDIAN, Miss. — A Mississippi man who had spoken openly about his hatred of blacks and his capacity for killing went on a rampage Tuesday morning at the defense plant where he worked, fatally shooting five and wounding nine before taking his own life with a shotgun, authorities and area residents said.

[snip]

Lockheed Martin had placed Williams in anger-management and threat-assessment counseling but had recently returned him to the assembly floor, Bobby McCall said.

[snip]

Williams came to work two weeks ago carrying a white Ku Klux Klan hood, said Terri Collier, an area resident whose 47-year-old husband, Alvin, was shot three times but was expected to survive. Williams was sent home after that incident, Terri Collier said. Alvin Collier told his wife that Williams began his shooting spree in a trailer on the Lockheed Martin plant site, where four black employees were taking an ethics class Tuesday morning.

" 'Oh, good, you're all together,' " Williams said upon entering the trailer, according to Alvin Collier.

[snip]

At the Fort Worth corporate headquarters of Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., a division of the nation's largest defense contractor, spokeswoman Catherine Blades declined to comment on reports that the company had placed Williams in counseling.

[Chancellor Palpatine]

When one of your employees acts like this guy had, you fire him, and instruct security to never, ever let him back in.

For those of you who think its fun, or some masculine demonstration of your non-PCness to be "in your face" with coworkers on racial or political issues, grow up - you radicalize yourselves, you radicalize discontented coworkers, and it has no place at your place of business.

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[Chancellor Palpatine]

Sickening story.

[from occupied ga]

think its fun, or some masculine demonstration of your non-PCness to be "in your face" ...

You mean like you do on this forum?

[wimpycat]

He wouldn't have lasted this long at my company. We don't do "anger-management". We do, "hit the road, Jack, and if we see you anywhere near one of our facilities, we're calling the cops." We've also been known to put surveillance on ex-employees. We did it one time to a guy who threatened to kill his old manager.

[Chancellor Palpatine]

So I take it you approve of people who act like this at work?

[Chancellor Palpatine]

As any responsible company would have done.

[wimpycat]

ROFL! (your tagline)

[Chancellor Palpatine]

;)

They're no doubt in mourning over the loss of a soulmate.

[DoughtyOne]

[Chancellor Palpatine]

I'll be curious to see how much play this one gets here.

[Poohbah]

A Mississippi man who had spoken openly about his hatred of blacks and his capacity for killing

CP: When one of your employees acts like this guy had, you fire him, and instruct security to never, ever let him back in.

If a co-worker openly speaks of his hatred for Catholics and his capacity for killing within my earshot, he isn't going to live long enough to get fired.

The Talmud says, "He who would kill you, get up early in the morning and kill him first."

Sage advice.

[from occupied ga]

So I take it you approve of people who act like this at work?

Nonsequitor alert combined with blatant hypocrisy alert.

[Chancellor Palpatine]

Looks like a mugshot - probably from company ID.

[wimpycat]

Are you going to speak to the subject matter at hand, are are you here merely to nip at the heels of the member who posted this thread?

[Chancellor Palpatine]

Answer the question.

[Puppage]

For those of you who think its fun, or some masculine demonstration of your non-PCness to be "in your face" with coworkers on racial or political issues, grow up

Don't you think it'd be better to wait until someone actually DOES demonstrate the above mood before lambasting them? Doesn't set a kind tone for active debate,regardless of how YOU feel.

[Chancellor Palpatine]

Listen to the crickets chirping on this one. Wonder what it is that keeps the usual suspects away in droves?

[wimpycat]

I also wanted to add that at our company, we'll notify the cops ahead of time when we're going to terminate somebody who we think might not take it too well. Or we'll call the cops if he starts making threats and the cops will escort him off the property.

I've been here going on 10 years and we've never had an incident like this, so I think our approach works in general.

But, on the other hand, it's difficult if not impossible to stop something like this as long as the employee has access to the property. That's why, if you have a security or card access system, you don't prop doors open and you don't take security for granted, as so many people do.

If this guy had worked at our company, he'd have been fired as soon as he made the remarks about killing people and black people, and everybody would have been instructed not to let this guy in the building.

Anger management, indeed. Is Lockheed Martin unionized or something?

[Poohbah]

They're still mourning Woodbrain up in Grand Rapids.