8 murdered at Conn. beer distributor; shooter commits suicide

[slappy4428]

http://blog.al.com/wire/2010/08/gunman_8_others_fatally_shot_i.html

MANCHESTER, Conn. — A black warehouse driver who had complained of racial harassment at work went on a shooting rampage at a beer distributorship Tuesday after he was asked to quit, killing eight people before apparently committing suicide, authorities said.

 

[Oggiedoggie]

There was also a little problem with him being caught on viseo tape stealing beer.

 

[poindexter]

How is the beer? Is the beer okay?

 

[YankeeFan]

http://blog.al.com/wire/2010/08/gunman_8_others_fatally_shot_i.html

MANCHESTER, Conn. — A black warehouse driver who had complained of racial harassment at work went on a shooting rampage at a beer distributorship Tuesday after he was asked to quit, killing eight people before apparently committing suicide, authorities said.

The guy's a thief and a murderer and the AP frames it as somebody fighting back against racial prejudice.

Unbelievable.

And it's nice of them to get his and his family's sympathetic take on the situation out there with no independent corroboration before they gather all of the facts.

Thornton called his mother after shooting his co-workers, his girlfriend's mother said.

"He wanted to say goodbye and he loved everybody," said Joanne Hannah, whose daughter Kristi had dated Thornton for eight years.

Thornton had complained to his superiors about harassment, Joanne Hannah said. A picture of a noose and a racial epithet had been hung on a bathroom wall at the beer distributorship, Hannah said. She said her daughter told her that Thornton's supervisors had not responded to his complaints.

"Everybody's got a breaking point," Hannah said, adding that her daughter was with Thornton on Monday night and had no indication he planned the shooting.

Aw. What a sweet guy.

He loved everybody, but had just reached his breaking point.

Could have happened to any of us.

 

[Small Town Guy]

They did alter the start of the story, it looks like. The updated version:

MANCHESTER, Conn. – A warehouse driver who was caught on videotape stealing beer from the distributorship where he worked went on a shooting rampage there Tuesday, killing eight people before committing suicide, authorities said.

At least two people were wounded, one critically, Manchester police said. They were expected to survive.

The gunman, identified by a company executive as Omar Thornton, had complained of racial harassment and said he found a picture of a noose and a racial epithet written on a bathroom wall, the mother of his girlfriend said. Her daughter told her that Thornton's supervisors had not responded to his complaints, but a union official said Thornton had not filed a complaint of racism to the union or any government agency.

Thornton had been caught on videotape stealing beer from Hartford Distributors and was supposed to meet with company officials when the shootings began, Teamsters official Christopher Roos said.

"It's got nothing to do with race," Roos said. "This is a disgruntled employee who shot a bunch of people."

 

[YankeeFan]

It's still irresponsible of the AP to initially lead with the racial angle.

They don't quote the gunman. They don't quote the girlfriend's second hand account of what the gunman told her. They quote the mother of the girlfriend's third hand account of what the girlfriend told the mother what the gunman supposedly said.

Would they print a third hand account of someone claiming this guy was a jerk?

So why would they go with a third hand account of racial issues?

Even if he told the girlfriend that there was racial problems, without independent corroboration, there's no way to know if that was just a lie to cover up the fact that he was going to be fired for theft.

It's a lot easier to tell your girlfriend that you're getting fired because your company is racist than it is to tell her you've been caught on videotape stealing.

 

[YankeeFan]

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000705746941&ref=search

"Likes" include the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) & Barack Obama.

Phew! I was worried a right wing radio talk show host or the Tea party had inspired him.

 

[Bob Cook]

I think AP led with the racial harassment angle because it A) speaks to possible motive, and B) it didn't yet have the info on him allegedly stealing beer. The version linked by slappy had the company saying he was scheduled for a disciplinary hearing, but it wouldn't say what for. So I don't think there's anything political here.

However, the family is as nutty as the shooter was saying he had reached his "breaking point," no matter what happened to him at work. An otherwise sane person does not fire upon his workplace because of troubles. Only a person who is troubled -- as in, issues with mental illness -- to begin with does so.

 

[Steak Snabler]

High Life privileges: Revoked.

 

[DanOregon]

As for why lead with the discrimination stuff - people always want to know the "why" - it helps them think something like this couldn't happen to them.
If you feel you've been treated badly, you sue. Asshats like this are the reason companies that lay people off shuffle them out the door with a guard in tow.
Cue the "Guns should be banned/black people are scary" debates on the cable nets. I always forget when something like this happens, do we blame the guy? Do we blame society? Do we blame his media sources?

 

[YankeeFan]

As for why lead with the discrimination stuff - people always want to know the "why" - it helps them think something like this couldn't happen to them.
If you feel you've been treated badly, you sue. Asshats like this are the reason companies that lay people off shuffle them out the door with a guard in tow.
Cue the "Guns should be banned/black people are scary" debates on the cable nets. I always forget when something like this happens, do we blame the guy? Do we blame society? Do we blame his media sources?

I understand that people want to know what the motive was, but that doesn't excuse the AP from running third hand, incendiary, speculation.

I thought the lesson we were supposed to have learned from the Breitbart incident was that we don't rush to conclusions.

Yet, the AP goes with a third hand claim that this family owned business allowed a racist atmosphere to fester.

They offered to proof. No corroboration. And they didn't get a response from anyone at the company before running with it.

The Hollander family -- among the victims of the shooting -- deserve an apology from the AP the same as Shirley Sherrod deserves an apology from Andrew Breitbart.

I'll wait for the outrage directed at the AP.

 

[Oggiedoggie]

As for why lead with the discrimination stuff - people always want to know the "why" - it helps them think something like this couldn't happen to them.
If you feel you've been treated badly, you sue. Asshats like this are the reason companies that lay people off shuffle them out the door with a guard in tow.
Cue the "Guns should be banned/black people are scary" debates on the cable nets. I always forget when something like this happens, do we blame the guy? Do we blame society? Do we blame his media sources?

I understand that people want to know what the motive was, but that doesn't excuse the AP from running third hand, incendiary, speculation.

I thought the lesson we were supposed to have learned from the Breitbart incident was that we don't rush to conclusions.

Yet, the AP goes with a third hand claim that this family owned business allowed a racist atmosphere to fester.

They offered to proof. No corroboration. And they didn't get a response from anyone at the company before running with it.

The Hollander family -- among the victims of the shooting -- deserve an apology from the AP the same as Shirley Sherrod deserves an apology from Andrew Breitbart.

I'll wait for the outrage directed at the AP.

 

[BYH]

I guess that settles it. Less filling it is.

 

[Boom_70]

I guess that settles it. Less filling it is.

Really taken back by the Tom Foolery and politicizing that is taking place on this thread.

Folks show some decency out of respect for the families.

This is not a thread to joke around on. Eight people lay dead in Manchester - not funny.

 

[YankeeFan]

As for why lead with the discrimination stuff - people always want to know the "why" - it helps them think something like this couldn't happen to them.
If you feel you've been treated badly, you sue. Asshats like this are the reason companies that lay people off shuffle them out the door with a guard in tow.
Cue the "Guns should be banned/black people are scary" debates on the cable nets. I always forget when something like this happens, do we blame the guy? Do we blame society? Do we blame his media sources?

I understand that people want to know what the motive was, but that doesn't excuse the AP from running third hand, incendiary, speculation.

I thought the lesson we were supposed to have learned from the Breitbart incident was that we don't rush to conclusions.

Yet, the AP goes with a third hand claim that this family owned business allowed a racist atmosphere to fester.

They offered to proof. No corroboration. And they didn't get a response from anyone at the company before running with it.

The Hollander family -- among the victims of the shooting -- deserve an apology from the AP the same as Shirley Sherrod deserves an apology from Andrew Breitbart.

I'll wait for the outrage directed at the AP.

Are you giving me a thumbs up or telling me that I "Jumped the Shark"?

 

[poindexter]

Has anyone confirmed the safety of the beer?

 

[Oggiedoggie]

As for why lead with the discrimination stuff - people always want to know the "why" - it helps them think something like this couldn't happen to them.
If you feel you've been treated badly, you sue. Asshats like this are the reason companies that lay people off shuffle them out the door with a guard in tow.
Cue the "Guns should be banned/black people are scary" debates on the cable nets. I always forget when something like this happens, do we blame the guy? Do we blame society? Do we blame his media sources?

I understand that people want to know what the motive was, but that doesn't excuse the AP from running third hand, incendiary, speculation.

I thought the lesson we were supposed to have learned from the Breitbart incident was that we don't rush to conclusions.

Yet, the AP goes with a third hand claim that this family owned business allowed a racist atmosphere to fester.

They offered to proof. No corroboration. And they didn't get a response from anyone at the company before running with it.

The Hollander family -- among the victims of the shooting -- deserve an apology from the AP the same as Shirley Sherrod deserves an apology from Andrew Breitbart.

I'll wait for the outrage directed at the AP.

Are you giving me a thumbs up or telling me that I "Jumped the Shark"?

The shark hath been jumped.

While there might be minor common threads between the two stories, Fonz is waiting for his ski boat.

 

[Boom_70]

Has anyone confirmed the safety of the beer?

Thanks for making my point. The bodies are not even in the ground yet and you are making jokes.

We'll bring you in if it turns out that the guy was molested by a teacher as a 10 year old.

 

[PCLoadLetter]

As for why lead with the discrimination stuff - people always want to know the "why" - it helps them think something like this couldn't happen to them.
If you feel you've been treated badly, you sue. Asshats like this are the reason companies that lay people off shuffle them out the door with a guard in tow.
Cue the "Guns should be banned/black people are scary" debates on the cable nets. I always forget when something like this happens, do we blame the guy? Do we blame society? Do we blame his media sources?

I understand that people want to know what the motive was, but that doesn't excuse the AP from running third hand, incendiary, speculation.

I thought the lesson we were supposed to have learned from the Breitbart incident was that we don't rush to conclusions.

Yet, the AP goes with a third hand claim that this family owned business allowed a racist atmosphere to fester.

They offered to proof. No corroboration. And they didn't get a response from anyone at the company before running with it.

The Hollander family -- among the victims of the shooting -- deserve an apology from the AP the same as Shirley Sherrod deserves an apology from Andrew Breitbart.

I'll wait for the outrage directed at the AP.

You know, at this stage you would thing I would no longer be surprised at the need some people have to try to get political mileage out of every single thing that happens.

And yet I read something like this and I'm still surprised.

8 innocent people shot to death and it gets turned into a ****ing Breitbart thread.

Pathetic.

 

[YankeeFan]

You know, at this stage you would thing I would no longer be surprised at the need some people have to try to get political mileage out of every single thing that happens.

And yet I read something like this and I'm still surprised.

8 innocent people shot to death and it gets turned into a ****ing Breitbart thread.

Pathetic.

And as usual, you see nothing wrong with the coverage.

This family gets shot -- and accused of being racist.

Nice job AP. Blame the victim, find excuses for the killer.

Not that folks like PCLoadLetter will mind.