Employee Stabs Co-workers and Clients at Retirement Home

On Sunday, January 9th in Alexandria, VA, a worker attacked six people in a retirement home, injuring residents, co-workers and visitors. He was reported to keep repeating, "She didn't respect me," as he went on his rampage. Mustafa Mohamed, 30, was a housekeeping employee and at first appearance did not seem to be likely candidate for workplace violence. He was not experiencing any negative employment actions taken against him and had no incidents of violence from his criminal background check. However, looking into the case a little more closely reveals that Mohamed had been accused of assault before when he worked at a CVS store in 2003. Reportedly, a co-worker laughed at him for tripping over some boxes and then was assaulted, however those charges were dropped. Because there was no conviction, the pre-employment background check did not reveal the incident. No one was killed but one of the victims, whose neck was broken, remained hospitalized and another resident required 200 stitches. A visitor was able to spray him with pepper-spray, survive an knife attack and then convince him to sit down. At this point, he was reported to keep mumbling the word -“Respect.”

Again, this emphasizes the strongest prevention measure. It is not criminal background checks, it is not surveillance cameras or ID-controlled entries. It is creating and maintaining a healhty and respectful relations. Even if the workplace had such an environment, it is how the perpetrator feels that is the crucial factor.