WORKPLACE VIOLENCE
3 others injured before suspect kills herself
Shirley Pollack reacts to news of a shooting that took place Thursday near her son’s place of work in Perryman, Md. A warehouse employee opened fire on co-workers, killing three and wounding three before taking her own life, authorities said. Story on
ABERDEEN, Md. — A woman working a temporary job at a drugstore warehouse in Maryland got into an argument at work Thursday morning and began shooting colleagues, killing three before fatally turning the gun on herself, authorities and witnesses said.
Workers at the Rite Aid distribution center in northeastern Maryland described terrifying moments of “crazy” gunfire and people screaming and running in all directions after the shooting. Others said they helped the wounded, one person tying blood-soaked jeans around a man’s injured leg in a bid to stop the bleeding.
Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler said at a news conference that the woman was later identified as a temporary employee of the distribution center, Snochia Moseley of Baltimore County.
“She had reported for her workday as usual, and around 9 a.m. the shooting began, striking victims both outside the business and inside the facility,” Sheriff Gahler said. “We do not at this time have a motive for this senseless crime.”
Krystal Watson, 33, said her husband, Eric, works at the facility and told her that the suspect had been arguing with somebody else near a time clock after a “town hall meeting.”
“And she went off,” she said.
“She didn’t have a particular target. She was just shooting,” Ms. Watson said as she drove away from a fire station where relatives tried to reunite with loved ones.
The sheriff said the call about shots fired came in at about 9:06 a.m., and deputies and other officers were on the scene in just over five minutes. The shooting began outside the business and continued inside, he said.
It appears only one weapon was used — a 9 mm Glock handgun that was registered in Moseley’s name — and no shots were fired by responding law enforcement officers, Sheriff Gahler said.
Walter Zambrano, 64, who described himself as a worker at the distribution center, said he was in the bathroom when shooting broke out and saw nothing as he hid, frightened for his life.
The person was “shooting like crazy,” Mr. Zambrano said, speaking in Spanish.
He said the gunfire seemed to go on several minutes, and when it was over he sprinted outdoors. On the way out, he said he saw a female coworker down on the floor. The scene, he said, was one of chaos.
“Everyone was screaming, running this way and that. I didn’t know which way to run,” he said.
The sheriff said three victims were fatally shot and three more were wounded but were expected to survive. They were not immediately identified. Moseley died at a hospital from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Sheriff Gahler said.
Area hospitals reported receiving five patients from the incident.
Susan Henderson, spokeswoman for the drugstore chain Rite Aid, described the building where the shooting took place as a support facility adjacent to a larger building. The company said in a statement that the facility had been closed temporarily and grief counselors will be made available to workers.
The company didn’t immediately respond to an inquiry about Moseley’s employment history.
Mike Carre, an employee of a furniture logistics operation next to the distribution center, said he helped tend to a wounded man who came hobbling in, bleeding from his leg. He called 911 from a bathroom before helping colleagues wrap the man’s bloodsoaked jeans above his injury to cut off blood flow.
Mr. Carre said the man told him the shooter “just came in in a bad mood this morning. He said she’s usually nice. But today, I guess it wasn’t her day. She just came in to pick a fight with someone.”
“She pulled out a gun and she just started shooting at her coworkers.”