Manhunt after 3 die in Calif. workplace shooting
Neighbor: Suspect was upset he had been moved from day shift to night shift
CUPERTINO, Calif. — SWAT teams were searching door to door with guns drawn Wednesday after a gunman killed three co-workers and wounded six at a morning meeting at a quarry in this Northern California city.
Shareef Allman
Two people died at the scene and a third died several hours later at a local hospital.
Two brothers, who were also union leaders at the quarry, were among the victims, NBC affiliate KNTV reported, quoting a brother of the men. One of the men died and the other was wounded, KNTV reported.
Potential reductions in employee hours at the quarry were cited as a possible reason for the shooting, but one of Allman's neighbors told the San Jose Mercury News that he had been upset over having been moved from the day shift to the night shift.
That move interfered with his plans to spend more time with his teenage daughter, Rose Douglas said.
Allman also is suspected of wounding a woman in an attempted carjacking more than two hours later.
Santa Clara County Sheriff's Lt. Rick Sung said Allman was at the routine safety meeting at 4:30 a.m., became disgruntled and left. He said Allman then returned and started shooting people at the quarry inside the Permanente Cement Plant.
One of the victims, now in critical condition, was shot in the face outside of the meeting room, according to a sheriff's deputy at the scene who declined to be named.
Video: New details on workplace shooting suspect Allman, from San Jose, reportedly was carrying a 9mm handgun and a rifle at the quarry.
"The only reports we have right now is that he was disgruntled and he was unhappy. Whether it was work-related or home-related, we don't know at this point," said Santa Clara County Sheriff's spokesman Jose Cardoza. Hosts public access TV show Allman is a truck operator at the quarry. He also produces and hosts a public access television show for CreaTV in San Jose.
He was one of 130 series producers who came in once a month and provided content, said Suzanne St. John-Crane, executive director of CreaTV. She said she had spoken with him numerous times but did not know him well.
"Based on what we know now, we're shocked and devastated and feel for the families of the victims," St. John-Crane told The Associated Press. "But he didn't work here. I want to make that clear. We're very frightened."
Business records show that in 2004, Allman started a youth development organization called Helping Hands Changing Hearts, which listed its location as Allman's home address. However, the IRS automatically revoked the organization's exempt status as a nonprofit for failure to file proper tax forms for three consecutive years, records showed.
The shootings rattled those who know Allman, said Paulette Conner, a neighbor in his San Jose apartment complex. Police were still talking to Allman's teenage daughter inside their apartment late Wednesday morning, she said.
"He's always had a smile on his face," said Conner, 57, who has known Allman for five years. "I've never known him to have any violent tendencies. Never. Ever."
Conner said Allman occasionally griped to her and others over the years about his job, including his various shift changes and some co-workers, but she never imagined that he could do something violent. She said Allman is a local fixture who has been heavily involved in San Jose's black community.
"He is very kind, sociable person and a really good father," Conner said. "I've never known him to be a mean person."
"As a bouncer he always had to be peaceful. He was always able to resolve conflict and be in control," James Ragland told the San Jose Mercury News.
Woman later shot near workplace
After leaving the quarry, the suspect reportedly attempted a carjacking at the parking lot of a Hewlett-Packard building in Sunnyvale, shooting a female driver in the leg. He did not manage to get the car from her and fled on foot, leaving behind his vehicle.
Police recovered four guns used in the attack, one of which was a fully-loaded AK-47 or SKS assault rifle, roughly 150 yards from Allman's tan Mercury Cougar, the sheriff's deputy at the scene said.
The deputy said Allman was scared away from the HP parking lot by another person in the lot. That woman got out of her car, startling Allman, who fired shots at and hit her car before fleeing on foot, he said.
Police search a neighborhood in Cupertino, Calif., Wednesday looking for Shareef Allman.
Another victim was taken to the emergency room at Stanford University Medical Center in Palo Alto, but the hospital could release no other details, spokeswoman Paula Zimlicki said.
Allman is described as African American, 5'11'', and 260 pounds, with numerous tattoos, according to KNTV.
Allman has a minor criminal record, consisting of driving with a suspended license and a 1992 misdemeanor charge for forgery, reported The San Jose Mercury News
Permanente Cement Plant, owned by Lehigh Hanson, Inc., is a limestone and aggregate mining operation and cement plant located in the foothills above Cupertino.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
Impossible. They have an assault weapons ban and other gun control in California. And we all see how well gun control works to stop violent criminals.
ReplyDeleteGun control won't work if there is a state such as Arizona with lax gun laws next door.
ReplyDeleteActually, what the US needs to do is enact the constitutionally acceptable methods (per Heller-McDonald)of registration and background checks for all sales of firearms on a federal basis.
I bet gun violence goes way down.
"Actually, what the US needs to do is enact the constitutionally acceptable methods (per Heller-McDonald)of registration and background checks for all sales of firearms on a federal basis.
ReplyDeleteI bet gun violence goes way down."
But when it does not, then what? Remove the registration law since it is ineffective or come up with more laws to pile on instead?
I think I know the answer.
Sure, if it didn't reduce gun violence in a reasonable amount of time, such legislation could be set to expire or be renewed.
ReplyDeleteBut the odds are, given the track record of such legislation, when enforced, in other countries, that it WOULD work.
The AWB expired. So, yeah, FWM, it could be done like that.
ReplyDeleteBut you know as well as I do, if my version of gun control were adopted, the improvement would be so dramatic we'd never go back.
The irony is most of the ones like yourself who are opposed to it and responsible for its not being implemented would still be owning and using guns the same as you do now.
I think FWM is correct, there should be a "Sunset" provision on any proposed legislation mandating registration of ALL weapons. Lemmeesee, 10-0-2011 minus 9-17-1789. 222 years, give or take? sure I'm good with that.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure why the comment was made in the original story that "Police recovered four guns used in the attack, one of which was a fully-loaded AK-47 or SKS assault rifle".
ReplyDeleteThere is a significant difference between the two weapons. The standard SKS is carbine with a fixed magazine fed by a stripper clip, but some have the ability to take an AKM magazine (I.e. Norinco's SKS-M, SKS-D, and MC-5D). The AK is a fairly familiar looking weapon to the general public.
I should add the term assault weapon is a United States political and legal term used to describe a variety of semi-automatic firearms that have certain cosmetic features generally associated with military assault rifles. The term assault rifle is used by the military to describe selective-fire weapons that fire a cartridge intermediate in power between submachinegun and rifle cartridges.
There is no pistol grip on a standard SKS, although it can have features which can be considered part of "assault weapon" defintion if one uses a cosmetic definition--that is an attached bayonet and some have integral grenade lauchers (i.e., The Yugoslavian SKS M59/66). The SKS can use aftermarket stocks which have pistol grips, but those are not standard issue.
SO, one can consider the SKS an assault rifle if it has been either modified to imitate an AK, or one is using the cosmetic definition to include bayonet or grenade laucher.
To say there is no such thing as an assault rifle is bullshit since it is a term used by the miltary. Additionally, the original assault rifle, the StG44 (Sturmgewehr 44) literally translates as assault rifle (sturm=assault and gewehr=rifle). The StG44 is the direct inspiration for the AK47. The StG also has the same features used by the military definition of an assault rifle.
the StG44 is the arhetypal assault rifle.