Orlando workplace shooter showed ‘pattern of abuse’
ORLANDO, Fla. — A former Fiamma co-worker wrote in a pair of 2014 court filings that John Robert Neumann Jr. was a “danger to our community” and showed a “pattern of abuse” that was known among other employees.
The co-worker’s fears became a reality Monday morning when Neumann went to the business in east Orange County and shot five employees to death with a handgun.
Orange County deputies received a call about an active shooter shortly after 8 a.m., and Neumann, 45, killed himself as they arrived about two minutes later.
As memorials and GoFundMe pages popped up for the victims Tuesday, a few more details emerged about the shooter, whom deputies characterized as “disgruntled” after he was fired in April. But authorities would not say why he was fired and did not know why he waited nearly two months to carry out his attack.
Neumann lived by himself in a mobile home in Maitland, where he started a van accessory business in November, according to records.
A Facebook profile page includes pictures of him — alone — at Orlando City soccer games, NASCAR races in Daytona and rocket launches on the Space Coast.
When his father, John Robert Neumann Sr., was asked Monday how he was doing by phone, he replied: “We’re doing fine. No comment.”
An aunt, Charlene Neumann of New York, said her nephew never married and had no children, as far as she knew. He also had a sister who lives in Florida, she said.
His aunt said she didn’t know him well and last saw him a few years ago, describing him as “quiet” and “friendly.”
“It was a shock to all the family members,” Charlene Neumann said. “I’m telling you, it’s something else. I’ve been married into this family for many years, and I never, ever seen anything like this coming.”
John Neumann Jr.’s co-worker Carlos Rodriguez filed two injunctions against Neumann in May 2014 that highlighted an ongoing dispute — one for stalking and another for repeat violence.
The injunctions were filed after deputies were called to the business when Rodriguez accused Neumann of assaulting him, but no charges were filed.
Rodriguez wrote that Neumann started verbally attacking him and “spitting in my face.”
“He began threatening the life of my family while getting physical with me,” Rodriguez wrote. “... I am in fear for my life. What’s he got to do, kill me before I can get justice?”
Rodriguez voluntarily dismissed the repeat-violence injunction, and a judge dismissed the stalking injunction for a lack of evidence.
Rodriguez, who could not be reached for comment, also sued Fiamma in 2015, accusing the company of not paying him for overtime. Fiamma agreed to pay Rodriguez $2,500.
He no longer works for the company, according to the lawsuit.
The employees killed Monday were Robert Snyder, 69; Brenda Montanez Crespo, 44; Kevin Clark, 53; Jeff Roberts, 57; and Kevin Lawson, 47.
Loved ones of four of the victims set up fundraisers for their surviving family members on the website GoFundMe.
“Brenda will always be remembered throughout our lives with the brightest smile and energy that always radiated through her,” Montanez-Crespo’s family wrote on her fundraising page, which had raised about $1,700 as of Tuesday night. The money will go to her daughters.
The largest fundraiser, nearly $50,000 as of Tuesday night, will go to Kevin Clark’s two teenage children.
“It’s going to be a long hard journey for them, but I am sure Kevin will be able to rest peacefully knowing so many are here to help protect his nest,” organizer Robin Neill wrote Tuesday.
The families of Kevin Lawson and Jeff Roberts have raised about $5,000 each.
“Kevin was the love of my life and the best husband and father imaginable,” wrote his wife, Janet Doty Lawson. “This senseless act has devastated me, my family, friends and people that never knew him.”
Roberts’ family described him as a “devoted husband, father and grandfather ... taken way too soon by senseless violence in his workplace.”
There was no sign of the mass shooting outside Fiamma on Tuesday afternoon, aside from a few bouquets of daisies, an unlit white candle and a “Sorry We Missed You” note from a local flower delivery company.
Four vehicles were parked in front of Fiamma’s warehouse. Rain had dampened a card reading “God Bless You” left outside the camper and vanawnings company.
The Italian company released a statement Tuesday calling the shooting an “unspeakable attack upon our loved ones and employees.”
“In these dark hours, we ask for thoughts and prayers for all the victims of this tragedy and their families.”