3 die in workplace shooting

July 13, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Associated Press

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.

A gunman angry about a domestic violence dispute with his girlfriend forced his way into the manufacturing plant where she works and killed two employees Monday before turning the gun on himself.

Four others were wounded in a rampage police said was motivated by the shooter’s disgust over a domestic violence dispute involving the girlfriend.

Police Chief Ray Schultz said it was not immediately clear whether the 37-year-old girlfriend was among the victims in the murder-suicide at the fiber-optics and solar-manufacturing plant in Albuquerque. He said the targeted woman had told co-workers she planned to report domestic violence to authorities.

It was also not known how the shooter got past security at Emcore Corp., but his first victim was a person who confronted him on the way into the facility.

Then he went through the building firing shots at several employees and leaving behind a gruesome scene of blood and shell casings across the company headquarters. Responding officers had to step past several victims — one dead and several wounded — as they raced into the building to stop the gunman.

Mayhem unfolded as he opened fire, sending employees fleeing for cover as police locked down the entire neighborhood.

“This is the worst nightmare you can think of,” Schultz said. “No one wants to have a situation like this occur in their community.”

Schultz initially told reporters six people were dead, but authorities later revised the count to say only three were dead.

Schultz explained that responding officers had seen people down and believed they were dead, then continued into the building to search for the gunman. Officers who arrived later determined they had survived. A third victim was double-counted by a hospital.

Schultz said the gunman carried a handgun and investigators were trying to determine if there were additional weapons. No victims’ names have been released.

Schultz said the gunman and his girlfriend had children who live in Rio Rancho and said they were taken into custody by “another agency.” The chief said there was at least one previous domestic violence call involving the gunman outside Albuquerque.