2 die in Pa. warehouse shooting; fired worker held

[blonndee]

Source: Yahoo News

2 die in Pa. warehouse shooting; fired worker held
Aug 1, 2008 (10:53p CDT)

BRISTOL, Pa. - A worker recently fired for absenteeism showed up outside a book warehouse in suburban Philadelphia on Friday, fatally shooting a veteran employee and a temp before being arrested, the company said.

The victims worked for Simon & Schuster's distribution center in Bristol, said company spokesman Adam Rothberg.

The shooting happened around 3:30 p.m. during a shift change at the warehouse, which employs 125 full-time workers and is about 20 miles north of Philadelphia, Rothberg said.

<snip>

Witnesses told the Bucks County Courier Times that the man taken into custody by police had threatened violence against some of his co-workers in the past.

...

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080802/ap_on_re_us/warehouse_shooting

[fascisthunter]

1. Jesus

[skoalyman]

2. christ

;(

[CreekDog]

3. no matter what, we should not further regulate guns

no matter what. they don't matter enough to change any policies related to them.



















:eyes:

[devilgrrl]

4. ...was upset after getting a severe reprimand in March for calling a black co-worker "boy"...

Oh man. :eyes:

"Diamond told authorities he had been harassed by co-workers and was upset after getting a severe reprimand in March for calling a black co-worker "boy," Henry said at a news conference."

[blonndee]

5. Wow--I missed that part!

WTF is it with these RW bigots going on rampages?

[tjl148]

7. ???

We know he was RW?

[blonndee]

8. You think anyone but a RWer would call a black man "boy"?

[AtheistCrusader]

11. In the Northwest, this is a pretty equal opportunity chide.

I was not aware of any racial overtone to it until that senator used it on Obama a month ago or whatever, and there was an outcry. I would never have known. Neither do any other Northwest natives I've asked about it.

Also, I've met democrat racists, so I'm unconvinced of your assertion.

[blonndee]

12. LOL

"I'm unconvinced of your assertion."

Anyone who is honestly that ignorant has NO credibility whatsoever. What kind of ignorant fool would not at least KNOW that this is a well-known and well-acknowledged slur? Here I am in the American southwest, and somehow my own racial sensitivities are more honed than your own....what a trip.

[AtheistCrusader]

13. Maybe because you are closer to the south?

Hell if I know. I do know, that insult is rarely used around here. I suspect your familairity with the word speaks more to it's common use where you live.

2. a young man who lacks maturity, judgment, etc.
8. Disparaging and Offensive. a man considered by the speaker to be inferior in race, nationality, or occupational status.
10. Offensive. (in India, China, Japan, etc.) a native male servant, working as a butler, waiter, houseboy, etc.


#2 is more likely to be the intended use around here, based on my observations. It's usually an older guy making fun of a younger guy doing something stupid, usually of the same race. I can think of two people I know that commonly use this term, one is from North Carolina, the other from somewhere in the south based on his accent.

Nice that this makes me 'ignorant' though. Thanks for that.

[bronxiteforever]

17. "Boy" is an easlily understood slur which is defined as such in a dictionary.

The key to its usage as a slur would be killing a black man after calling him boy

"Henry said that Diamond had told police that he felt he was unfairly reprimanded at the job in March 2008 when he allegedly called a black co-worker “boy.” Diamond is white, Woodson was black and Guadalupe was Latino. Henry said it was unclear if the shooting was race-related.
http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/112-08022008-1571666.html

Race
Historically, in countries such as the U.S. and South Africa, "boy" was not only a 'neutral' term for domestics but also used as a disparaging racist insult towards men of colour (especially of African descent), recalling their subservient status even after the 20th century legal emancipation (from slavery, evolved to race segregation, viz. Apartheid) and alleged infantility, and many still consider it offensive in that context to this day.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boy

boy
Noun
1. a male child
2. a man regarded as immature or inexperienced
3. offensive a Black male servant

boy
n 1: a youthful male person; "the baby was a boy"; "she made the
boy brush his teeth every night"; "most soldiers are
only boys in uniform" child, female child]
2: a friendly informal reference to a grown man; "he likes to
play golf with the boys"
3: a male human offspring; "their son became a famous judge";
"his boy is taller than he is" daughter]
4: offensive term for Black man; "get out of my way boy"

http://dictionary.die.net/boy

[yardwork]

21. Good try. "Boy" is clearly understood to be a racial slur along the lines of the n-word.

Since the incident earned the man a reprimand, I'd say that the intention of racism was very clear at the time.

If they had simply been kidding around, the man wouldn't have been reprimanded. Further, the fact that he went on a murderous rampage and targeted a Latino man and a black man speaks for itself.

[LostinVA]

27. I've lived in NJ, NC, VA, NJ -- "boy" is racist when directed at a black person -- period

I'm unconvinced of YOUR assertion that it's "equal opportunitry" in the NE... because I know it isn't.

[Zuiderelle]

29. How old are you? It's a serious question.

I think it's actually possible that someone in the Northwest who is quite young might not actually be aware of the connotations of "boy" when used against a black person.

If you aren't under 20 though, you have no damn excuse.

[yardwork]

20. Welcome to DU. He called a black coworker "boy" and he murdered a Latino

and a black man. Sounds like a racist to me.

And the question upthread is relevant - What's the deal with these rightwingers going on murdering rampages?

[Pilotguy]

6. Is anyone...

...going to be surprised when authorities find the collected works of literary giants like the Savage Weiner, Sean Insannity, and Billo in this guys basement?

[DBoon]

9. No they are expecting it

which is why his reading habits will never be associated with this event, except maybe in local news

[blonndee]

10. No, but if it were some "liberal activist"

it would be BREAKING NEWS and TERRORIST ATTACK all over the corpwhoremedia.

[High Plains]

14. Ho-hum, nothing to see here. Just another day in America.

Bang! You're dead.

[Pavulon]

15. It is scare tactic, local news. If you get dead today

it will be from your heart giving out, some jerk off kid, or adult, running a stop sign while texting or talking about who they hooked up with.

Odds are your car will be the place you die, maybe an medical error, something mundane.

That is all classified as an accident. To me that is murder, just like the guy with the gun.

[gratuitous]

16. This is true enough

And the common denominator is that, just like getting popped by a disgruntled ex-co-worker, these other forms of death are all preventable. Or at least there are steps that we as a society have taken that makes them less likely to happen. All except for one of these means of death; we seem incredibly reluctant to do anything that would make that cause of death "well-regulated."

But it's probably nobody's fault.

[yardwork]

22. Another racist murderer goes on a rampage. Nothing to see here. Move along.

Just an accident.

[Pavulon]

25. no such thing.

car accidents, accidental discharges of firearms, all are a duck.

accident is a word we use when no one wants responsibility.

guy with the gun is responsible, person on phone causing fatal accident responsible..

Pretty simple.

[bronxiteforever]

18. Updated from local paper

Henry said that Diamond had told police that he felt he was unfairly reprimanded at the job in March 2008 when he allegedly called a black co-worker “boy.” Diamond is white, Woodson was black and Guadalupe was Latino. Henry said it was unclear if the shooting was race-related.

Several employees said that Diamond had threatened co-workers repeatedly during his time at the warehouse.

Hill said Woodson had a son and three daughters. He said the youngest daughter attends Willingboro High School, and another daughter is enrolled at Rutgers University in New Brunswick.

“He was a good father,” Hill said. “He loved his wife and his children.”

http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/112-08022008-1571666.html

[brentspeak]

19. Threatened violence in the past...yet still allowed to purchase a gun

[benEzra]

23. Bingo.

And I suspect nothing was done about the prior threats of violence, which seems to be de rigeur in cases like this.

The police were probably stretched too thin fighting the Pot Menace, and the mental health system isn't usually much of an option due to funding issues.

[LanternWaste]

24. And I've got my own employee with.... anti-social tendencies

And I've got my own employee with.... anti-social tendencies that I'm forced to deal with day after day using kid gloves. There's a running joke in the office that if anyone ever brings a gun to work and goes off the deep end, it would be him.

As odd as many of my co-workers think he is, I'm simply worried. The last time I wrote him up, he ended up having flop sweats at his desk for the rest of the day while his face got more and more red. Found out the next morning, he was involved in a car wreck on the way home (rear ended another car just outside of the parking lot).

I read his blog and that's what has me worried the most-- he's good enough with language to make the innuendo and implications seem harmless. And as he's never made any direct threats against anyone that I'm aware of, my hands are tied. He will break, of that I'm sure. How he breaks is a different matter altogether, and is the matter that has me worried.

HR can't do anything about it, and although I know from threads on DU that all cops are Nazi's and Fascists (complete and absolute bullshit from the I-just-got-a-traffic-ticket-crowd), I've discussed this at length with my ex-BIL (a cop) who told me that I just don't really have any options if I want to keep working there, except to keep my eyes and ears open at all times and report anything out of the ordinary to HR.

[yardwork]

26. I feel for you. Being a manager is very difficult.

I think that most people on DU recognize how important the police are to our society. We just get mad at the bad ones. That's very different from thinking that all law enforcement are evil.

Good luck with your difficult employee. I hope it works out ok. It sounds like you are doing everything you can. This is a lot more common than people realize. My ex works for a large multinational company. It's not at all uncommon for the company to send their own security to watch managers' houses after people have been laid off or made threats about a poor evaluation.

And reaching out to help a person in crisis is not necessarily safe either. One of my former managers helped get an employee into therapy, and as a result, the employee became fixated on this one manager who had tried to help her, and now stalks her. =

Anyway, best of luck to you. I hope all goes well.

[Indy Lurker]

28. Terminate him...before someone gets hurt

Unless he is under contract.

All you need to say is that "your services are no longer required."

I'd also have a member of the local law enforcement present.





"Employment at Will"

Where employees are employed on an indefinite basis, Texas follows the general rule that employment is "at will," and may be terminated by either party at any time, with or without notice.(Claus v. Gyorkey, 674 F.2d 427) A well-worded disclaimer in an employee handbook may help to preserve an employer's right to discharge at will. See Conaway v. Control Data Corp., 955 F.2d 358, 7 IER Cases 408 (CA 5 1992), and Crum v. American Airlines Inc., 946 F.2d 423, 7 IER Cases 415 (CA 5 1991).