Definitely not a funny...

Anybody hear about the horrible instance of workplace violence at the ConAgra plant in KC last week? Apparently, a disturbed employee came in, shot and killed 5 other employees and then turned the gun on himself. After the news broke, many families of ConAgra workers gathered outside the plant and had to wait for hours before the names of any victims were released. I can't imagine being in that position or in the position of ConAgra's HR department right now. It's scary when you can't even feel safe at work.

Anyone had to deal with anything like this?

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  • [font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 07-08-04 AT 12:55PM (CST)[/font][br][br]That incident was reported in our local paper. I too thought about how hard it would be to go to work the next day.

    We've never had a situation like that around here, but I did have to deal with an ee who talked about his arsenal of guns and other assorted weapons at home. He lived out in the hills and looked the part of a mountain man. Kind of wacky, very much a loner who wanted 3rd shift to get away from people. He threatened to come back and blow away his manager because he wasn't getting the "promised" transfer quick enough. We discovered he was fired by a local major defense industry mfg for threatening coworkers and management. Had the sheriff's detectives come and observe while we fired him and they tailed him to the PA border then provided 24/7 protection for one month. Had the potential.
  • As close as it's been to us is exactly one year ago today, at Lockheed-Martin Aerospace in Meridian, 80 miles East of here, the same thing happened. A guy gets up and walks out of annual Ethics Training, goes to his car for rifles and handgun, and came in and shot dead 6 co-workers and several died later. Odd you mention this since our papers today are full of the anniversary articles about the trauma still at that plant.
  • I had the pleasure of my stomach hitting bottom when I returned to the office to find it locked down by the SWAT team. An employee decided he did not like the manager who was going to terminate him. Brought a gun to the office to discuss the issue with the manager. The situation was resolved peacefully but was a rather stressful afternoon.
  • A company I worked for several years past had a similar incident but far less magnitude. It was not at our plant but a sister plant just 50 yards away. A boyfriend of an employee walked into the plant looking for his girlfriend. Upon finding her he shot her. Thankfully his aim wasn't the greatest as he only hit her in the leg. One of the supervisors then came to the rescue and tackled the man before he could either get away or do anymore damage. Needless to say, our security was beefed up around our two plants and all of the others.
  • On a bit of a lighter note.... a few years back it was very exciting when I walked out of the bank for lunch to be greeted by the local police with pistols drawn because they had been informed that we were being robbed. Turns out one of our new tellers had triggered the silent alarm system without knowing it. We have since changed the alarm triggers and have worked out a much better plan of action with the local cops; no more "wanna be" SWAT tatics while the bad guy may still be in the building.
    Every day is a fun day, but some days are more fun than ever.
    Dutch2
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