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Garnishing of wages might have been motive for office shooting

Michael McDermott

From staff and wire reports

WAKEFIELD, Massachusetts (CNN) -- The man suspected of killing seven of his office mates Tuesday might have been angry that the IRS had contacted his company to garnish his wages for back taxes, authorities said.

Michael McDermott, 42, was taken into custody in the offices of Edgewater Technology, Inc. after he allegedly shot and killed four women and three men, police said. Authorities said McDermott was carrying a .12-gauge shotgun, a semiautomatic rifle and a semiautomatic pistol and still had ammunition when he was arrested in the lobby of the building.

Middlesex District Attorney Martha Coakley said officials were investigating the possibility that McDermott was upset because the IRS had contacted his company, a software development firm, to garnish his wages.

"The company got notification from the IRS that Michael McDermott had been delinquent on his taxes and in a fairly routine procedure they asked the company to assist with garnishment of his wages, taking a percentage but obviously not all to pay off his back taxes," Coakley said in a news conference.

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VIDEO Middlesex County Prosecutor John McEvoy talks to the media about the shooting and the arrest of Michael McDermott Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) CNN's Bill Delaney reports on the mass homicide in Wakefield, Massachusetts Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)

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AUDIO Nancy Pecjo, a developer with Edgewater Technologies, speaks at the scene of the shooting 1032K/50 sec. AIFF or WAV sound

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"They'd indicated that it would not happen until after the holidays, and so we are working on the theory that they may have had something to do with what occurred today," she added, saying that many of the employees killed worked in the "accounting end" of the business.

Coakley said McDermott, who worked at the company for about a year as a programmer, will be arraigned Wednesday morning at 9 a.m. in the Malden District Court on seven counts of first-degree murder.

The incident occurred shortly after 11 a.m. at the company's headquarters at the Harvard Mills office complex. About 80 other employees were working in the building at the time. Edgewater Technology has about 150 employees but about half of them were on vacation for the Christmas holiday this week, Coakley said.

She said McDermott arrived for work Tuesday morning as usual and had conversations with several co-workers before the shootings began, first in the reception area of the building. Two employees were killed in that area, and five others were killed at their work stations in the inner offices, she said. All the victims had multiple gunshot wounds.

An investigator with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms is in Wakefield to help local officials with the investigation.

"When the (crime) scene is released, we will take a look at the guns and start the tracing process," said Special Agent Bill Kinsella of the ATF's public information section in Washington.

If there is a federal firearms issue, that would be addressed. "Right now, we are there to assist on the processing of the firearms," Kinsella said.

Kinsella said the ATF would use information provided by local authorities to track the history of the guns.

The shooting took place at a building on Foundry Street known as Harvard Mills. Edgewater Technology is an Internet consulting firm. The company has its headquarters in Wakefield and offices in Alabama, Arkansas, Minnesota and New Hampshire, according to its Web site.

McDermott was a software tester who had worked at the company since March, Mike Stanley, a team projects leader at Edgewater, told The Associated Press.

McDermott recently had been coming in late and his performance wasn't as good as it could have been, Stanley said. He declined to elaborate.

He said none of the victims was McDermott's supervisor.

"He had nothing to do with any of them," Stanley said, a tear running down his right cheek. "It seems like a random ridiculous thing."

McDermott was sitting in the lobby when law enforcement officers arrived. He was armed and had to be subdued, Middlesex County Assistant District Attorney John McEvoy said.

McEvoy would not comment on the victims pending notification of their families. There were no additional injuries other than the seven victims, who all died from apparent gunshot wounds, he said.

"The gunman went crazy," one witness told reporters outside the three-story brick office complex.

Jonathan Oldham told The Associated Press that McDermott moved out of their six-unit apartment complex in Weymouth, south of Boston, at the end of October. The 35-year-old carpenter was surprised to learn the man he said was quiet and kept to himself was accused of the rampage.

"I freaked," he said. "You never know if someone has problems with their life. It could have happened here."

Ambulances and emergency vehicles rushed to the scene and heavily armed police in bullet-proof vests conducted a room-to-room search of the office complex that is home to several high-tech firms.

Nancy Pecjo, a developer with the company, said she did not know who had been shot.

"It's a great company, a wonderful company," she said, adding that she didn't know of anyone who'd been fired recently or was disgruntled.

"It's a small company, you get to know everybody there," she said. "When something like this happens it's very distressing."

Three ambulances were parked outside the Harvard Mills office complex, a three-story, red brick former factory that houses several companies.

Darren Emery, the owner of North Shore Pools, across the street said a number of office workers ran into his store saying the man had opened fire.

The workers were evacuated to St. Joseph's church which is located nearby.

Wakefield is about 10 miles outside Boston.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

StaffMark looks to unlock value of Edgewater rather than spin it off
May 25, 2000

Information on Harvard Mills office complex
Edgewater Technology press release (November 2000)
Edgewater Technology press release (November 2000)
Edgewater Technology Company Capsule from Hoovers' Online

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