Monday, May 30, 2005

May 9 San Fransico, CA Ex-Social Worker Returns to Kill Former Colleague

Gregory Gray, 54, fatally shot Bruce Franks, a 49, at the Conard Community Service Center. He is also accused of assaulting senior case manager Kalifa Coulibaly, who police said tried to wrestle the weapon out of Gray's hands. Gray was fired from his job at the center back in September. On a Monday morning, we walked in just before 9 a.m. carrying a handgun, a shotgun and a hatchet and shot Franks in the chest and back. Homicide inspectors and Conard employees reportedly state that Franks, who did not supervise Gray, was not the intended target.
As Gray was wrestled to the ground by workers, a homeless man and client of the agency, picked up the dropped shotgun and ran away with it. Responding officers had to apprehend the thief while workers restrained Gray.

The Extent and Cost of Bullying in the Workplace

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health released a study last year that showed 24.5 percent of the 516 companies surveyed reported that bullying behavior had occurred there during the preceding year. And who was the aggressor? Of these incidents, 39.2 percent identified an employee, 24.5 percent a customer and 14.7 percent a supervisor. While the cost to morale and turn-over may be difficult to gauge, the civil liability may be more easy to identify. In March, an Indiana surgeon was ordered to pay a former hospital employee $325,000 in lost wages after a 2001 incident in which the doctor screamed and lunged at the worker.

NY County Considers Anti-Discrimination Bill for Abuse Victims

In Westchester County, the Board of Legislators is considering a bill that would add victims of abuse to the list of those already protected by the county's human rights law. It would effectively add the status of victims of abuse to the protected classes of race, ethnicity, religion, age, gender, national origin, disability, sexual orientation and marital status and would ban discrimination in housing and employment.
Cited in the argument is a statistic from the Society for Human Resource Management showing that nearly four in 10 assaults on the job in the United States are committed by a spouse or partner. Another study shows the impact of abuse on the bottom line.

Ireland Takes Violence Against HealthCare Staff Seriously

National Hospitals Office of the Health Service Executive of Ireland has ordered hospitals to take immediate action to deal with violence and aggression against staff. Director Pat Mc Loughlin has issued guidelines on this issue to be implemented immediately. Recent investigations have discovered violence and aggression to be one of the main risks in emergency departments. The main hazards surround patients dealing with substance abuse issues. Among the measures suggested are security guards in the units at weekends, a new criminal offence where people engage in abusive or threatening behavior and a doubling of the visiting charge people attending who are simply drunk and not genuinely ill.

Thursday, May 26, 2005

May 5 Houston, TX Attorney Kills Another in Office

Jackie Lee Duke, 52, was a contract attorney working for Cooper Cameron. At about 8:40 a.m., Duke was meeting with Michael Paul Hartmann, 54, the in-house attorney and Duke’s alleged supervisor. Both of them worked on patent related legal issues for the oil services company for the past several years. It was reported that Duke was being let go but it must not have been a surprise to him. He had left a suicide note at home and brought with him that morning two weapons, a .357-caliber revolver and a semiautomatic handgun. In a soft-sided briefcase, the gunman had also brought more ammunition. Duke shot and killed Hartmann and then committed suicide. Both shots were to the head.

May 6 Franconia Township, PA Two Employees Accidently Shot when a Third Shows his Gun in Parking Lot

Two employees were injured and a third was in police custody after a handgun discharged twice while the men were looking at it. It was between noon and 1 p.m. when the three men had left their shift at the Moyer Packing Company. The went to one of the men’s cars so that he could show them his Ruger 9mm handgun. The gun went off twice and two of the men were injured. There is no suspicion that the act was intentional and noon of the injuries were life threatening.

This emphasizes the danger of weapons on company property, which includes the parking lot. Please not the early posting about increased homicide rates in workplaces that allow guns.

May 6 Chatham, GA Home Depot Employee Shoots Man who Chased him to Work

In a rare instance of workplace violence, a in the leg Friday night at the chain store's southeast distribution center in Chatham County. According to witnesses, the assailant chased the victim through the parking lot, shooting as he ran. As reported, Sean Pajotte , 35, was an employee of Home Deport and had been in an argument with ShaKim Brash, 38. Brash had threatened Pajotte and followed him to the company parking lot. That is when Pajotte pulled out his weapon and shot at Brash. However, police report that Brash was the aggressor and a weapon was allegedly found in his car.

May 3 Santa Ana, CA Woman Kidnapped from Work, Assailant Killed

A 23 year old woman was kidnapped from her workplace just before midnight. The family of the victim paid $1,200 in ransom to the perpetrator but he fled with the victim in his getaway car. The family had received the call demanding the ransom at which they contact law enforcement. The perpetrator went to their home where officers were waiting. When he arrived in the victim’s car to collect the money, he fled with the victim still inside. The police stopped the car which crashed into a parked pick up. The assailant was then shot and killed by the responding officers. The victim and the kidnapper have not been identified.

Sunday, May 01, 2005

April 29th Newport News, VA Man Shoots Ex-Wife then Flees

Thomas Wayne Caudle, 39, walked into Dominion Physical Therapy around 4 p.m. and started arguing with this estranged wife in her office. It then that he drew a pistols and started to shoot her, hitting her several times in the lower body and legs. A co-worker called the police as Caudle fled. He took off in a blue Plymouth Voyager which was found about a mile away in a company parking lot. A blood hound and German Shepard soon tracked him where he was hiding in a drain ditch which was waist deep in water. The victim was taken to an area hospital where her wounds were not considered life threatening.