[cifnmedia] Five Killed in Kansas Workplace Shooting

From: Sean & Kimberly Aaron <cifn@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: CIFN LIST <cifnmedia@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sat, 3 Jul 2004 20:47:00 -0700 (PDT)
Five Killed in Kansas Workplace Shooting 

By BILL DRAPER 

 
 
 
 
 
KANSAS CITY, Kan. - A disgruntled worker at a meatpacking plant killed four 
fellow employees and wounded three others Friday afternoon before committing 
suicide, police said.

The gunman appeared to have targeted particular workers at the ConAgra Foods 
Inc. plant, employee Andre Porter said.

Porter, 38, of Atchison, said he was in the men's locker room when he heard 
gunshots during the plant's 5 p.m. shift break.

Later in the 10-minute rampage, Porter said, he heard the gunman tell some 
people in the cafeteria, "You haven't done anything to me, so you can go."

Deputy police chief Col. Sam Breshears said witnesses told police told gunman 
was a disgruntled plant employee.

A police dispatcher who did not give her name said a ConAgra employee walked 
into the cafeteria and began firing, then killed himself. Breshears would not 
say where the shootings occurred.

 
 
Breshears said when officers arrived the gunman was still moving through the 
building, but did not provide details about the circumstances under which the 
shooter committed suicide.

"We're putting this thing together," Breshears said. "It is a slow, meticulous 
process."

The three men wounded were being treated at The University of Kansas Hospital, 
spokesman Bob Hallinan said. One was in critical condition late Friday night, 
while two others were in serious condition, he said.

Police did not release the names of the men killed, but said two were 45 years 
old, one was 21 and two others had yet to be identified. The critically injured 
victim was 55, and the other wounded men were 44 and 60, Breshears said.

Many employees had been kept at the plant for hours for interviews with police 
while friends and family gathered outside, waiting for word.

"Everybody out here is trying to find out if their loved one is a victim or a 
survivor," said Robert Thompson, whose wife was inside when the shooting took 
place. Thompson later learned his wife was OK.

The ConAgra plant is located in an industrial section of the city, about four 
miles southwest of downtown Kansas City, Mo. Workers there process and slice 
meat for deli and sandwich products, company spokesman Bob McKeon said.

ConAgra is working with police in the investigation, but had no other details, 
McKeon said in a telephone interview from Omaha, Neb., where the company is 
headquartered.

"Our heartfelt sympathies go out to the families of the employees who have been 
involved in this tragedy," McKeon said.

The shooting came a year and a day after an employee of a manufacturing plant 
in Jefferson City, Mo., shot eight people, three fatally, before killing 
himself in front of the city's police headquarters.



Sean A. Aaron (CIFN*1)
Central Illinois Fire Network
cifn@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
www.geocities.com/central_illinois_firenet


_____________________________________________________________
Get email for your site ---> http://www.everyone.net
[cifnmedia] Five Killed in Kansas Workplace Shooting

Other related posts:
