‘Coffee club’ that loved early fellowship attacked

Camaraderie was so important for the “coffee club“at RJR Maintenance and Management that the four unofficial members often arrived at work early just to enjoy one another’s company, mugs in hand, before other employees arrived and the workday began.

But that friendly calm was shattered around 7:30 a.m. on April 1, when a person armed with a gun and a knife entered the company’s office building in Mandan, N.D., through the one unlocked door. Within 13 minutes, those four friends became the victims of a horrific deadly attack.

Jackie Fakler’s memories of arriving at the building that morning are bleak. She had planned to drive to work with her husband, Robert — they co-owned the business — but a last-minute decision sent him on ahead.