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Workplace shooter described as 'angry' manRampage leaves six dead, eight wounded
MERIDIAN, Mississippi (CNN) -- A worker armed with a shotgun and a rifle went on a rampage at a Mississippi aircraft plant Tuesday morning, killing five co-workers and wounding eight others before killing himself, authorities said. Lauderdale County Sheriff Billy Sollie said the gunman was Douglas Williams, 48, a worker at the Lockheed Martin plant on the northeastern outskirts of Meridian, about 200 miles north of New Orleans. He said Williams opened fire during an employee meeting at about 10 a.m. Tuesday [11 a.m. EDT]. A company official said the gathering was a required annual business ethics course. Officials said Williams left the 13-person meeting and went to his truck to arm himself. He then returned to the meeting and opened fire, shooting several in the room before proceeding through the rest of the plant, shooting employees apparently at random, Sollie said. "At first I thought it was something falling on the ground," plant worker Booker Steverson told The Associated Press. "Then I walked to the aisle and saw him aiming his gun. I took off. Everybody took off." Sollie said Williams was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the torso. He also said an autopsy would be performed to find out whether Williams was taking any medication. The sheriff refused to guess at Williams' motive, but he addressed allegations from witnesses that the shootings were racially motivated. Four of the dead were black, and two, including Williams, were white, Sollie said. Three of the wounded were black, and the five others were white, he said. "If you look at the pattern of those who were killed and those who were injured, that would certainly weaken the rumor out there that this was racially motivated," the sheriff said. He also said it didn't appear that Williams had targeted management. According to a sheriff's deputy, a number of people at the plant said they considered Williams, a 19-year plant employee, to be racially prejudiced. Law enforcement who talked to Williams' relatives were told he was an "angry" man, Sollie said. "[My wife] said he made a threat against black people," Bobby McCall told the AP. The husband of Lanette McCall, a black worker who was killed, also said, "Obviously, he was a sick guy. I wish somebody had given him some help before he done destroyed my life and my kids' life." "He's had problems with white people, too," Austin Clark, who is white, told the AP. "I have no idea what set him off." Sollie said authorities had found no criminal arrest record for Williams, who was unmarried but lived with a woman in neighboring Clarke County. Suspect brought several weapons, used oneWearing a bandolier of ammunition, Williams entered the plant armed with a 12-gauge shotgun, which had an enlarged chamber, and a Mini-14 semiautomatic rifle, Sollie said. The state crime lab said Williams, clad in a black T-shirt and camouflage pants, used only the shotgun. A search of Williams' pickup truck yielded additional weapons, including a .22 Magnum, an automatic pistol and another Mini-14 semiautomatic rifle, Sollie said. Williams was carrying a large amount of ammunition, Sollie said. When agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms searched Williams' house, they also "found a large quantity of ammunition," he said.
One of the wounded remained in critical condition Tuesday night, Sollie said. Most of the 138 people in the factory at the time fled the building during the assault. Sheriff's deputies secured the building and brought many of them back inside for questioning, and several clergy members were there to console them, Sollie said. Father Mike Dubrosky said he arrived at the scene to find employees with blood on their hands and clothes. Dubrosky said one employee told him he dodged a bullet and turned around to find it hit a coworker behind him. "You can only imagine how he felt," Dubrosky told CNN. Relatives gathered outside the plant for news of family members inside. One who received bad news was the Rev. John Willis, whose uncle, 27-year veteran employee Thomas Willis, was among the dead. "My son called me and told me that he had heard that there was a shooting at Lockheed, and I came over to check and just make sure it wasn't my uncle," Willis said. "And, of course, he was one of them." Williams was a resident of neighboring Clarke County, and the sheriff's department there was aiding the investigation, Sollie said. He said investigators were trying to find out Tuesday afternoon what prompted the shooting spree. "We're going to speak to each employee, find out his friends, his group of friends, and hopefully find out information from them," he said. Williams' brother told CNN that the family was shocked and distraught at the news. Plant temporarily closedLockheed Martin is one of the main employers in Meridian. The plant builds pieces of the C-130J Hercules transport and vertical stabilizers for the F-22 Raptor fighter.
The plant will remain closed until further notice, said Dain Hancock, president of Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, adding that the company will bring in a team and resources to help workers deal emotionally and financially with the incident. "On behalf of Lockheed Martin and some 125,000 folks, we offer our heartfelt thanks, prayers, support for all of those involved -- those who have lost loved ones, those who have been injured, those in the community that have been affected," Hancock said. Meridian Mayor John Robert Smith called the killings an "unspeakable tragedy." "Nothing like this has ever happened here," Smith said. "We pride ourselves on being the safest city in Mississippi with more than 30,000 people. "Our thoughts have to be to the families that are facing something that we can't begin to imagine. There's shock, there's horror and great, great grief." CNN correspondent Art Harris contributed to this report. Copyright 2003 CNN. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.
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We pride ourselves on being the safest city in Mississippi with more than 30,000 people.
