Truck Driver Kills Eight and Himself; Reason for Killing: Forced to Resign

The Vice President of Hartford Distributors Connecticut Steve Hollander played the video of Omar Thornton, 34, stealing beer from the warehouse and gave him an ultimatum of resigning or getting fired. The truck driver stayed silent during the allegations; he did not admit or deny the thefts, he did not protest nor contest the videos. He calmly agreed to resign. A few moments later, he took out his handgun and starting firing at everybody within range. Two of Hollander’s colleagues got shot in the head and died, but Hollander only suffered minor injuries in his arm.

At 7 a.m. of that morning, a few days ago, about 50 to 70 people were getting ready for their shifts in the warehouse, when the shooting occurred. According to Joanne Hannah, the mother of Thornton’s girlfriend, Thornton called his mother to say loving goodbyes and shot himself, after the shooting rampage. Joanne Hannah also claimed that Thornton, who was black, felt that he experienced racial discrimination at the company. However, there have been no legal complaints filed in the worker’s union or any government agency by Thornton. Hollander denies all these accusations, asserting that the company does not tolerate discrimination practices against a fellow employee.

The employee was clearly dissatisfied with the situation at the company, and reached a breaking point when one of his actions was scrutinized. The company should look into the reason behind the rampage, rather than just disregard it as “actions of a disgruntled employee”, if they want to avoid another such fiasco. There are always two sides to a coin. No man would make such an unsound decision if not prompted by dealings within the corporation.