Ohio State gunman kills employee before committing suicide

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Ohio State University main hall.
Image: David Himelright.

An Ohio State University employee allegedly killed a co-worker before committing suicide on Tuesday morning. The suspect was Nathaniel Brown, a 51-year-old custodial worker who has worked at the University since October. The victim of the shooting was Larry Wallington, a 48-year-old building service manager. Another employee, Henry Butler, was also shot, but survived and is in stable condition at a nearby hospital.

According to officials, the shooting took place at 3:30 A.M. local time. Brown is said to have walked into a maintenance building with two handguns, and then commenced firing. Although police say that there were six men in the room at the time, only Wallington and Butler were shot. Within an hour of the shooting, a text message was sent out to about 25,000 students and faculty on campus alerting them of what had happened.

Information gathered following the shooting has revealed that Brown was unemployed and struggling to pay his mortgage prior to his employment at Ohio State. Although a neighbor described him as "happy to be back at work," Brown's tenure at Ohio State ended quickly. Brown had learned from a recent letter from the school that he was going to be let go as of March 13. The letter went on to say that he had gotten an "unsatisfactory" job evaluation, and that was why he was being dismissed.

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Sources

"Gunman Was Getting Fired From OSU Job" — 10TV.com, March 9, 2010
"Police: Gunman, Co-Worker Dead in Ohio University Shooting" — VOA News, March 9, 2010
Ian Urbina. "Ohio State Employee Kills Co-Worker, Then Self, Police Say" — The New York Times, March 9, 2010

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