Gunman kills himself, three others at St. Louis plant
Emergency workers load a person into an ambulance outside ABB Power after a gunman walked into the company and opened fire Thursday morning in St. Louis.
Enlarge image Enlarge By Whitney Curtis, Getty Images
Emergency workers load a person into an ambulance outside ABB Power after a gunman walked into the company and opened fire Thursday morning in St. Louis.
By Emily Bazar, USA TODAY
A man who was suing his employer over the company's 401(k) retirement plan opened fire at work in St. Louis on Thursday, killing three people and wounding five before fatally shooting himself, police say.
The suspected gunman at the ABB transformer manufacturing plant was Timothy Hendron, 51, of Webster Groves, Mo., said Schron Jackson, spokeswoman for the St. Louis Police Department.
"It will take a long time to put together the pieces of what happened," St. Louis Police Chief Daniel Isom said. He said investigators had not determined a motive.
Hendron is listed among plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit against the company alleging that administrative fees and expenses of the 401(k) plan are "unreasonable and excessive," according to court documents. A trial began Tuesday in Kansas City.
MORE COVERAGE: St. Louis' KSDK-TV has details
The gunman's rampage began at 6:30 a.m., sparking panic at the 200,000-square-foot factory. The plant employs about 270 people, and 40 to 50 employees were probably there at the time, police Capt. Sam Dotson told the Associated Press.
"Many of them sought safety on the roof, in boilers and broom closets," he said.
The gunman had an assault rifle, a shotgun and a handgun, Isom said. Two people were found dead in the parking lot outside, and the bodies of two others, including the suspected gunman, were inside, he said.
Police identified the dead as Carlton Carter, 57; Terry Mabry, 55; Cory Wilson, 27; and Hendron.
Dan Muñoz, 28, said he has been friends with Wilson, a plant employee and volunteer football coach at Collinsville High School in Illinois, since junior high. He described Wilson as a "big, burly guy" who played the position of linebacker, loved to crack jokes and enjoyed playing golf with buddies. "Every time you saw him, he'd be smiling," he said.
Muñoz, a teacher and coach at the high school, often joined Wilson in the coach's booth on Friday nights to watch football games. "He loved being with the kids," he said. "He was a hell of a football player and he wanted to pass that on to the kids."
Friday, January 8, 2010
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Johnny Lee Wicks (66), Las Vegas, Nevada
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Gunman, security officer killed in Las Vegas courthouse shooting
A deputy U.S. marshal is wounded. The shooter, who moved to Nevada from California, was upset about losing a lawsuit over Social Security benefits, authorities say.
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By Ashley Powers and Richard A. Serrano
January 5, 2010
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Reporting from Washington and Las Vegas - A 66-year-old retiree apparently upset over losing a lawsuit related to his Social Security benefits opened fire in a federal courthouse lobby Monday morning, killing one person and wounding another in a chaotic shootout.
The gunman, identified by law enforcement sources as Johnny Lee Wicks, died from gunshot wounds after fleeing across the street as court officers returned fire.
Stanley W. Cooper, a 72-year-old court security officer, was killed in the minutes-long gun battle. Cooper, a policeman for more than a quarter-century, had been a federal security officer since 1994, said Jeff Carter, a U.S. Marshals Service spokesman.
A wounded deputy U.S. marshal, 48, was in stable condition at a hospital. His name was not released.
Law enforcement sources said Wicks' failed federal lawsuit -- an erratic document riddled with spelling and grammatical errors -- was a likely motive.
In 2008, Wicks, who had moved from California to a local retirement home, filed a complaint against a regional Social Security Administration commissioner, contending that his monthly benefits had been reduced by $317 because he was black.
"It's all about race," he wrote in the complaint, although he cited no evidence. "I am no fool."
A lawyer for the Social Security Administration responded in court documents that Wicks' payments had been cut because, as a Nevada resident, he was no longer entitled to a supplement he had received while living in California.
The lawyer also said that Wicks had not taken advantage of Social Security'ssystem of appeals.
A judge threw out Wicks' case in September.
Authorities said Wicks' apartment caught fire about 5 a.m. Monday. Then, about 8 a.m., he entered the building where his lawsuit had been heard, the Lloyd D. George Federal Courthouse, just south of the aging casinos on downtown's Fremont Street.
Wicks, who had a stroke several years ago and said in his lawsuit that he sometimes struggled to walk, was sheathed in black.
The retiree pulled a shotgun from his jacket and opened fire in the entryway, a few steps from two metal detectors, said Joseph Dickey, an FBI special agent.
Seven court officers returned fire, and the shooter darted out of the building and across Las Vegas Boulevard. He was struck in the head and died in the shrubbery near historic Fifth Street School, a white stucco office building.
A video posted on YouTube captured the sounds of 50-plus shots snapping like firecrackers.
"The first shot that I heard was a shotgun blast. I knew it wasn't fireworks," Ray Freres, 59, a sandwich shop manager and Vietnam veteran, told the Associated Press. He said he was behind the federal building at the time.
"I heard an exchange of gunfire. I was watching the street," Freres said. "If they were coming my way, I was going the other way."
On the building's eighth floor, Ida Gaines, 55, a regional representative for Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) -- who, along with Republican Sen. John Ensign, has an office in the building -- had made coffee and was checking her computer. Most staffers hadn't heard the gunfire and gasped when a Reid aide shouted, "Somebody's been shot downstairs!"
Told to stay in the office, Gaines peered out the window. "We saw someone lying on the ground that was dead," she said.
The employees were unsure whether the gunman was in the building or if there was more than one. They turned on CNN.
When someone pounded on the door, Gaines said, "I didn't know if it was the gunman or not."
Authorities were at the door. They ushered the employees out of the building, telling them to leave their purses and cellphones behind. When employees returned several hours later, the building's entrance was pocked with bullet holes.
Ensign told reporters that the gunfight brought to mind an incident in 1996, when a man, in an apparent suicide attempt, shot himself in the chest outside Reid's Las Vegas office. The man was convicted of stalking.
After the incident, Reid moved his office from south of downtown to a federal building, he has said, because it had security guards.
Times staff writer Kate Linthicum in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
Gunman, security officer killed in Las Vegas courthouse shooting
A deputy U.S. marshal is wounded. The shooter, who moved to Nevada from California, was upset about losing a lawsuit over Social Security benefits, authorities say.
* Related
*
Map Map
By Ashley Powers and Richard A. Serrano
January 5, 2010
* EmailE-mail
* printPrint
*
Share
* increase text size decrease text size Text Size
Reporting from Washington and Las Vegas - A 66-year-old retiree apparently upset over losing a lawsuit related to his Social Security benefits opened fire in a federal courthouse lobby Monday morning, killing one person and wounding another in a chaotic shootout.
The gunman, identified by law enforcement sources as Johnny Lee Wicks, died from gunshot wounds after fleeing across the street as court officers returned fire.
Stanley W. Cooper, a 72-year-old court security officer, was killed in the minutes-long gun battle. Cooper, a policeman for more than a quarter-century, had been a federal security officer since 1994, said Jeff Carter, a U.S. Marshals Service spokesman.
A wounded deputy U.S. marshal, 48, was in stable condition at a hospital. His name was not released.
Law enforcement sources said Wicks' failed federal lawsuit -- an erratic document riddled with spelling and grammatical errors -- was a likely motive.
In 2008, Wicks, who had moved from California to a local retirement home, filed a complaint against a regional Social Security Administration commissioner, contending that his monthly benefits had been reduced by $317 because he was black.
"It's all about race," he wrote in the complaint, although he cited no evidence. "I am no fool."
A lawyer for the Social Security Administration responded in court documents that Wicks' payments had been cut because, as a Nevada resident, he was no longer entitled to a supplement he had received while living in California.
The lawyer also said that Wicks had not taken advantage of Social Security'ssystem of appeals.
A judge threw out Wicks' case in September.
Authorities said Wicks' apartment caught fire about 5 a.m. Monday. Then, about 8 a.m., he entered the building where his lawsuit had been heard, the Lloyd D. George Federal Courthouse, just south of the aging casinos on downtown's Fremont Street.
Wicks, who had a stroke several years ago and said in his lawsuit that he sometimes struggled to walk, was sheathed in black.
The retiree pulled a shotgun from his jacket and opened fire in the entryway, a few steps from two metal detectors, said Joseph Dickey, an FBI special agent.
Seven court officers returned fire, and the shooter darted out of the building and across Las Vegas Boulevard. He was struck in the head and died in the shrubbery near historic Fifth Street School, a white stucco office building.
A video posted on YouTube captured the sounds of 50-plus shots snapping like firecrackers.
"The first shot that I heard was a shotgun blast. I knew it wasn't fireworks," Ray Freres, 59, a sandwich shop manager and Vietnam veteran, told the Associated Press. He said he was behind the federal building at the time.
"I heard an exchange of gunfire. I was watching the street," Freres said. "If they were coming my way, I was going the other way."
On the building's eighth floor, Ida Gaines, 55, a regional representative for Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) -- who, along with Republican Sen. John Ensign, has an office in the building -- had made coffee and was checking her computer. Most staffers hadn't heard the gunfire and gasped when a Reid aide shouted, "Somebody's been shot downstairs!"
Told to stay in the office, Gaines peered out the window. "We saw someone lying on the ground that was dead," she said.
The employees were unsure whether the gunman was in the building or if there was more than one. They turned on CNN.
When someone pounded on the door, Gaines said, "I didn't know if it was the gunman or not."
Authorities were at the door. They ushered the employees out of the building, telling them to leave their purses and cellphones behind. When employees returned several hours later, the building's entrance was pocked with bullet holes.
Ensign told reporters that the gunfight brought to mind an incident in 1996, when a man, in an apparent suicide attempt, shot himself in the chest outside Reid's Las Vegas office. The man was convicted of stalking.
After the incident, Reid moved his office from south of downtown to a federal building, he has said, because it had security guards.
Times staff writer Kate Linthicum in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
John Allen Muhammad
Set for execution today, the D.C. Sniper killed ten. John is a member of the Nation of Islam.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Orlando, Florida
Suspected Orlando Gunman Arrested; 1 Dead, 5 Hurt
'They Left Me To Rot,' Suspect Jason Rodriguez Says
'They Left Me To Rot,' Suspect Jason Rodriguez Says
Fort Hood, Texas
The Arabic phrase "Allahu Akbar", shouted by the Fort Hood killer Major Nidal Malik Hasan before he opened fire, is known as the takbir and is used by Muslims to express a wide range of emotions.
What an interesting connection. Back in March of 2003 an American soldier threw live grenades into American tents at Camp Pennsylvania Kuwait. His name was Hasan Akbar.
What an interesting connection. Back in March of 2003 an American soldier threw live grenades into American tents at Camp Pennsylvania Kuwait. His name was Hasan Akbar.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Mass Murder: New Hope Plantation Mobile Home Park, Brunswick, Georgia
I'm not sure what went down, but 8 out of 9 victims died. I will fill in the details.
I don't usually address the family-annihilator type, which could be what happened here. You know, the murder-suicide type. But, this happened in my hometown. Fucking crazy. Nothing like this has ever happened here. Welcome to the big city.
I don't usually address the family-annihilator type, which could be what happened here. You know, the murder-suicide type. But, this happened in my hometown. Fucking crazy. Nothing like this has ever happened here. Welcome to the big city.
There's Dozen of Bastards
You know there are a lot more bastards that nut up and run into some place shooting it up. I don't do a very good job of posting things about them. I give much more attention to my blog about blackface.
But, you know, something is really happening in this country. People are nutting up in droves. It's partly the economic crunch, but it is also a state of complacency in America.
People don't want to do their jobs, and they do not care how it impacts the lives of others. Sometimes, these nut cases have been made into rampaging loons by persistent feelings that they have been left with no other option. If nothing else, they are willing to lay down their lives to draw attention to their plight.
I do not in any way condone simple acts of revenge that involve a disproportionate punishment for the alleged offense. You do not kill a woman because she cheats on you. But, could a man be driven to feel that a person or persons are the source of something which makes the man's life unlivable? Sure, of course.
You look at the dude that drove through the front of Luby's in Killeen, Texas; he shouted some crap about the government before he let the lead fly. I guess those Columbine dudes got sick of being picked on or something - piss poor excuse.
Don't you think people were ready to run up in AIG, or other bailout recipients, or even old Madoff's office and let loose? This is, seriously, peoples' lives being ruined while insurance and bank CEOs, or just crooked accountant, walks off with untold billions.
People who nut up and kill other people because they think they are "saving" those victims are the worst. Hey, do us all a favor and "save" yourself. Often women will kill their own children under this category. Then there are men who feel they can no longer support their family, so they kill them. What the fuck?
But, when someone has been driven to the point, for one reason or another, where they can not live their life, it is easily understood how one could become willing to lay down their own life to put a stop to those responsible for the circumstances leading to that condition.
Accountability is key. If a person can be charged for "cyber-bullying" a teen into suicide - and actually be held in a position of responsibility for such, which is HOW IT IS RIGHT NOW - well then other forms of mental torture should also be considered just as heinous. What about other teens that had picked on this suicidal teen? Are they not partially responsible as well?
And listen up here, shouldn't such behaviors be actionable preemptively? Well, it just isn't that way, motherfucker. Call up 911 one good time, fool. "We're sorry ma'am, we can't do anything until he actually rapes you, call back then."
But, seriously, call up 911 with a cyber-bullying emergency. It ain't going to happen. And, more generally, if someone is fucking with you in life, or love, or business, you can't go to the police at all; it's a civil matter. So, when a lawyer is not an option, what do you do? Some people lose it.
So, don't ask "why" anymore, that's it. Don't say "were they crazy." Look, what you and I think of as "crazy" and what the courts define as legally insane are two totally different things. Often the ability to tell right from wrong comes into question, but they are asking the wrong fucking question. Anytime someone sends a bunch of souls on their way, and even themselves, then you have to understand that they actually (in all likelihood) felt like they were doing the right thing; that the societal system did not provide any further options.
So, we need to fix that shit, y'all. Some sort of free arbitration system or something. Lawyers are fucking out-of-control greedy scum which do nothing but drain society. And the Better Business Bureau is not it. The BBB is more of a warning system. Look before you leap, by using it. But, it can't help you if you have been burned by a business.
I know of no such thing for the matter of love. What do you got, Maury Povich, Jerry Springer, and Dr. Phil? We are fucked people. If this isn't the end of the fucking world I don't what is.
But, you know, something is really happening in this country. People are nutting up in droves. It's partly the economic crunch, but it is also a state of complacency in America.
People don't want to do their jobs, and they do not care how it impacts the lives of others. Sometimes, these nut cases have been made into rampaging loons by persistent feelings that they have been left with no other option. If nothing else, they are willing to lay down their lives to draw attention to their plight.
I do not in any way condone simple acts of revenge that involve a disproportionate punishment for the alleged offense. You do not kill a woman because she cheats on you. But, could a man be driven to feel that a person or persons are the source of something which makes the man's life unlivable? Sure, of course.
You look at the dude that drove through the front of Luby's in Killeen, Texas; he shouted some crap about the government before he let the lead fly. I guess those Columbine dudes got sick of being picked on or something - piss poor excuse.
Don't you think people were ready to run up in AIG, or other bailout recipients, or even old Madoff's office and let loose? This is, seriously, peoples' lives being ruined while insurance and bank CEOs, or just crooked accountant, walks off with untold billions.
People who nut up and kill other people because they think they are "saving" those victims are the worst. Hey, do us all a favor and "save" yourself. Often women will kill their own children under this category. Then there are men who feel they can no longer support their family, so they kill them. What the fuck?
But, when someone has been driven to the point, for one reason or another, where they can not live their life, it is easily understood how one could become willing to lay down their own life to put a stop to those responsible for the circumstances leading to that condition.
Accountability is key. If a person can be charged for "cyber-bullying" a teen into suicide - and actually be held in a position of responsibility for such, which is HOW IT IS RIGHT NOW - well then other forms of mental torture should also be considered just as heinous. What about other teens that had picked on this suicidal teen? Are they not partially responsible as well?
And listen up here, shouldn't such behaviors be actionable preemptively? Well, it just isn't that way, motherfucker. Call up 911 one good time, fool. "We're sorry ma'am, we can't do anything until he actually rapes you, call back then."
But, seriously, call up 911 with a cyber-bullying emergency. It ain't going to happen. And, more generally, if someone is fucking with you in life, or love, or business, you can't go to the police at all; it's a civil matter. So, when a lawyer is not an option, what do you do? Some people lose it.
So, don't ask "why" anymore, that's it. Don't say "were they crazy." Look, what you and I think of as "crazy" and what the courts define as legally insane are two totally different things. Often the ability to tell right from wrong comes into question, but they are asking the wrong fucking question. Anytime someone sends a bunch of souls on their way, and even themselves, then you have to understand that they actually (in all likelihood) felt like they were doing the right thing; that the societal system did not provide any further options.
So, we need to fix that shit, y'all. Some sort of free arbitration system or something. Lawyers are fucking out-of-control greedy scum which do nothing but drain society. And the Better Business Bureau is not it. The BBB is more of a warning system. Look before you leap, by using it. But, it can't help you if you have been burned by a business.
I know of no such thing for the matter of love. What do you got, Maury Povich, Jerry Springer, and Dr. Phil? We are fucked people. If this isn't the end of the fucking world I don't what is.
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