Gunman kills 8, self at company where he worked

August 4, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Associated Press

MANCHESTER, Conn.

A warehouse driver who a union official said was caught on video stealing beer from the distributorship where he worked went on a shooting rampage there Tuesday, killing eight people and wounding two before committing suicide, authorities said.

Omar Thornton, 34, pulled a handgun after a meeting in which he had been offered the chance to quit or be fired, Manchester Police Chief Marc Montminy said.

The gunman, who was black, had complained of racial harassment and said he found a picture of a noose and a racial epithet written on a bathroom wall, the mother of his girlfriend said. Her daughter told her that Thornton’s supervisors told him they would talk to his co-workers.

James Battaglio, a spokesman for the families who own the distributorship, said he had no immediate information about the allegations of racial harassment. And a union official said Thornton had not filed a complaint of racism with the union or any government agency.

Thornton had been caught on videotape stealing beer, Teamsters official Christopher Roos said.

“It’s got nothing to do with race,” Roos said. “This is a disgruntled employee who shot a bunch of people.”

Thornton’s girlfriend had been with him the night before the rampage and had no indication he was planning it, said her mother, Joanne Hannah.