Nine dead in shooting rampage at Connecticut beer warehouse

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

A Manchester, Connecticut beer driver caught stealing beer from the warehouse he works for has killed nine people, including himself, after he resigned and went on a shooting rampage. The man, whose name is Omar Thornton, went on his killing spree after being showed video evidence of him stealing beer from Hartford Distributors Inc, a wholesaler of beverages.

Company Vice President Steve Hollander said that Thornton "was cool and calm. He didn't yell. He was cold as ice. He didn't protest when we were meeting with him to show him the video of him stealing. He didn't contest it. He didn't complain. He didn't argue. He didn't admit or deny anything. He just agreed to resign. And then he just unexplainably pulled out his gun and started blasting." Hollander also stated that the 34 year-old man had guns hidden away in his lunch box, and said that two people around him were killed. Hollander, however, was only injured and said "By just the grace of God, I don't know how he missed me." Another employee said "people were pleading with him to put the gun down and to stop, but he was in his own world at that point."

Thornton opened fire around 7:00 am local time (11:00 UTC). During a phone call, in which his mother pleaded with the gunman not to commit suicide, he said that "[he] killed the five racists that was there that was bothering me. The cops are going to come in so I am going to take care of myself," according to his uncle Will Holliday.

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Sources

David Owens and Dave Altimari. "9 Dead In Manchester, Conn. Workplace Shooting" — Hartford Courant, August 3, 2010

Stephen Singer. "'Cold as ice' Conn. beer driver kills 8, self" — Associated Press, August 3, 2010

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