The Hartford Distributors shooting was a mass shooting that occurred on August 3, 2010, in

Manchester, Connecticut Manchester is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The town is part of the Capitol Planning Region, Connecticut, Capitol Planning Region. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the town had a total population of 59,713 ...

, United States. The location of the crime was a warehouse owned by Hartford Distributors, a beer distribution company. The gunman, former employee Omar Sheriff Thornton (born April 25, 1976) shot and killed eight male coworkers before turning a gun on himself.

Shooting

Thornton, aged 34, was called into his place of employment for disciplinary purposes. Thornton had been recorded on surveillance video in the Hartford Distributors warehouse stealing beer on a previous occasion. He was also implicated in the theft of empty beer

keg A keg is a small cask used for storing liquids. Wooden kegs made by a cooper were used to transport nails, gunpowder, and a variety of liquids. Nowadays a keg is normally constructed of stainless steel, although aluminium can be used if it is ...

s. Hartford Distributors is a wholesale distributor of

Budweiser Budweiser () is an American-style pale lager, a brand of Belgian company AB InBev. Introduced in 1876 by Carl Conrad & Co. of St. Louis, Missouri, Budweiser has become a large selling beer company in the United States. Budweiser is a filte ...

beer Beer is an alcoholic beverage produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches from cereal grain—most commonly malted barley, although wheat, maize (corn), rice, and oats are also used. The grain is mashed to convert starch in the ...

products and

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...

. Given the options of being fired or resigning, Thornton signed the resignation papers and was being escorted out of the building. Instead of leaving, he took out two 9mm handguns (a Ruger SR9 & a Ruger P95) from his lunchbox and opened fire. At the time Thornton started shooting, there were around 40 employees in the building. In just a few minutes, Thornton murdered eight coworkers and seriously injured two others. Many employees made calls to 911, with some callers identifying Thornton as the shooter. Police arrived on the scene just three minutes after the first 911 call. Police entered the building ten minutes after the first 911 call. Thornton promptly hid in a locked office. As more police entered the building, Thornton called his mother and explained to her what he had done. He told her he planned on turning the gun on himself. As police closed in, Thornton called 911, saying his motive for the massacre was racism he had experienced in the workplace. He told the 911 operator that he wished he had killed more people. (Audio recording) Soon after hanging up, he killed himself with a shot to the head.

Victims

Eight people were killed and two others were injured in the shooting.

Killed

*Francis Fazio, Sr., 57 *Douglas Scruton, 56 *Edwin Kennison, 49 *William Ackerman, 51 *Bryan Cirigliano, 51 *Craig Pepin, 60 *Louis Felder, 50 *Victor James, 61

Wounded

*Steven Hollander, 50 *Jerome Rosenstein, 77

Aftermath

Family members of Thornton have stated that he had complained to them that, as a Black person, he was being racially discriminated against at his job. Thornton's girlfriend, Kristi Hannah, claimed that he had seen a picture of a

noose A noose is a loop at the end of a rope in which the knot tightens under load and can be loosened without untying the knot. The knot can be used to secure a rope to a post, pole, or animal but only where the end is in a position that the loop can ...

and a racial

epithet An epithet (, ), also a byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) commonly accompanying or occurring in place of the name of a real or fictitious person, place, or thing. It is usually literally descriptive, as in Alfred the Great, Suleima ...

written on a bathroom wall. Company and union officials as well as workers at the facility have denied the charges of racism. The union notes that he never filed a complaint with the union or any government agency. Forensic psychiatrist Keith Ablow stated, "I've evaluated plenty of murderers during my career... and I can tell you that people don't commit atrocities because of name-calling." A police probe did not find proof of racism at Hartford Distributors, with other minority workers at Hartford Distributors interviewed by the police disagreeing with Thornton's allegation that the company was "a racist place". The massacre is the deadliest workplace shooting in Connecticut history and the second-deadliest mass shooting in the state, after the

Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting On December 14, 2012, a mass shooting occurred at Newtown Public Schools, Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, United States. The perpetrator, 20-year-old Adam Lanza, shot and killed 26 people. The victims were 20 children bet ...

. Connecticut suffered a similar workplace shooting at the Lottery Headquarters in Newington on March 6, 1998, which left five dead including the shooter.Employee kill self, 4 others
'' Sun Journal'' (March 7, 1998) Christy Quail and Sean Quail were arrested for receiving the property alleged to have been stolen by Thornton. Sean Quail was arrested on August 17 in an incident where he sprayed bug-repellent at reporters covering the case. Quail was charged with three counts of first-degree reckless endangerment, three counts of third-degree assault, carrying a dangerous instrument, and breach of peace.

External links

Police Report PDF about these events

References

{{Mass shootings in the United States in the 2010s 2010 in Connecticut 2010 mass shootings in the United States 2010 murders in the United States Attacks on buildings and structures in 2010 August 2010 crimes in the United States Mass murder in the United States in the 2010s Deaths by firearm in Connecticut Events in Hartford County, Connecticut Manchester, Connecticut Mass murder in 2010 Mass shootings in Connecticut Attacks on commercial buildings in the United States Murder–suicides in Connecticut Workplace shootings in the United States Attacks on warehouses