Deadly Shooting Inside DPW Facility Latest Instance Of Workplace Violence
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- The shocking sound of gunfire inside a city Department of Public Works facility--an argument turns to murder. Police are looking for the gunman.
WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren takes a hard look at workplace violence, and your risk.
At 8:32 a.m., the first emergency call came in.
"It's at the City Yard for a report of a shooting," the dispatcher said. "Male just shot another male. Caller states the male is dead."
In the frightening moments that followed, police searched desperately for the killer, as they worked to keep dozens of Baltimore City DPW employees safe.
"Lock up the front doors. Everybody stays in the building," a dispatcher said. "Make sure nobody comes in, nobody goes out."
The numbers are alarming. The Bureau of Labor Statistics tracks workplace violence and found from 2006 to 2010--the last year for which numbers are available--551 people were killed in the workplace every year.
"Those statistics are shocking--and that's only the individuals who die," George Barnes said.
Barnes is CEO of the World Institute of Safety, which helps companies develop plans to deal with workplace violence.
"If individuals are making threats or are doing things that are inappropriate--that individuals have concern about--you want to take any of those threats seriously," Barnes said. "A lot of places aren't prepared."
Among the high-profile cases in our area: two store employees murdered by a troubled customer at the Columbia mall and the Navy Yard shootout--the second deadliest on a U.S. military base. Other incidents include a disgruntled BGE worker shooting through his supervisor's office in Hanover .
Just last week in Kansas, a gunman shot 17 people--14 of them coworkers.
"I don't know what he was going through, but obviously he felt this was the way out," said Adam Miller, victim.
Workplace violence--a danger few think about until it becomes reality.
One in six instances of workplace violence involves a government employee.
