UPS workers flee gunfire that killed four

As shots rang out, some employees sought refuge on roof of delivery facility

SAN FRANCISCO — A UPS employee opened fire at one of the company’s package delivery facilities in San Francisco on Wednesday, killing three co-workers and then himself as officers closed in and workers ran frantically into the streets, police and company officials said.

Fleeing gunfire, some workers sought refuge on the roof of the four-storey facility and others ran outside and pounded on the windows of a public bus, witnesses said.

“They were banging on the bus and they were screaming, ‘Go! Go! Go!’” said Jessica Franklin, 30, who was riding the bus to work when it made a regular stop in front of the United Parcel Service facility. “As they got on the bus, they were all ducking.”

Two other UPS employees were wounded in the shooting that prompted a massive police response in one of the city’s industrial neighbourhoods, about three kilometres from downtown San Francisco, assistant Police Chief Toney Chaplin told reporters.

Officials, UPS employees and witnesses described other scenes of chaos as shots rang out during a morning meeting before drivers were sent on their delivery routes. Neighbour Raymond Deng said he heard up to eight rapid gunshots.

Police arrived in minutes. Officers found wounded victims and pulled them to safety and then confronted the shooter, who was armed with an “assault pistol,” Chaplin said. “The suspect put the gun to his head and discharged the weapon.”