Motive baffles UPS workplace shooting survivor

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A San Francisco UPS driver recovering from a gunshot wound said Monday in an interview that he does not understand why his colleague Jimmy Lam shot him and killed three fellow drivers last week, but does not believe the shooter had reason to feel disrespected, which police have suggested as a possible motive.

Alvin Chen, 43, cried at times as he told The Associated Press about the chaotic shooting inside a UPS warehouse Wednesday that also left Lam dead after he killed himself and left another driver with a gunshot wound.

Although police have suggested Lam might have felt disrespected by other workers, Chen said it would have been out of character for any of the three men who were killed to have done so.

It would have been especially out of character for two of the drivers who were his close friends, Chen said, adding that he knew of no animosity between them and Lam.

“I’m heartbroken. I can’t understand why this happened,” Chen said, a pair of crutches nearby.

The workplace deaths of the UPS drivers — Wayne Chan, 56; Benson Louie, 50; and Mike Lefiti, 46 — shocked San Francisco and stunned UPS workers.

Chen said he felt compelled to speak out about the dead drivers to speculation that Lam might have been motivated to open fire because of bullying.

A San Francisco Police Department official has said Lam appears to have felt disrespected by co-workers, but did not know if that motivated the shooting.

The officer spoke on condition of anonymity because the officer was not authorized to speak publicly about the investigation.

Chen said Lam never indicated before the shooting that he had problems with other workers, and said he had a friendly chat with Lam about their routes.